Uwazi

Two organisers of the protest held by Amanah against the rising prices of goods were questioned by police today, with eight more summoned to give their statements tomorrow.

Amanah communications director Khalid Samad confirmed that he had given his statement at the Dang Wangi district police headquarters at 10am today in connection with the protest yesterday at Kampung Baru.

“Yes, I chose to go after they summoned me. The police asked about my role in the protest and who else was present,” he told FMT.

The former federal territories minister said besides providing his contact details to the police, he responded to every other question with “I choose to reply in court”.

Fadhli Umar Aminolhuda of the party’s legal bureau told FMT that besides Khalid, DAP central executive committee member Sheikh Umar Bagharib Ali had also been quizzed by the police today.

Others scheduled to be questioned at the Dang Wangi police headquarters at 10am tomorrow are Amanah vice-president Adly Zahari, secretary-general Hatta Ramli, Selangor state exco Izham Hashim, mobilisation bureau director Sany Hamzan, Amanah Youth chief Hasbie Muda, Permatang Pasir assemblyman Faiz Fadzil, women’s wing chief Aiman Athirah Al Jundi and Wanita Youth wing head Nurthaqaffah Nordin.

Fadhli said they are being investigated under Section 9(5) of the Peaceful Assembly Act for failing to provide prior notice of the rally to the authorities.

Yesterday, about 100 people took part in the protest over the rising prices of goods, which started at 2pm after Friday prayers and ended after 3pm.

Some 15 police personnel were there to ensure the rally remained orderly as the participants called for the government to resolve the issue.

At the rally, Faiz warned that Amanah would hold another protest if Putrajaya did not address the issue by July 16.

Police formed a human barricade along Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman to stop the “Turun Malaysia” protesters from marching towards Dataran Merdeka.

About 500 people had gathered at the Sogo shopping complex from 2pm to protest against the rising cost of living.

Activist Sevan Doraisamy and other protesters attempted to negotiate with the authorities to continue their march but were unsuccessful.

Protesters chanted “Hidup Rakyat” and demanded that ministers take a pay cut.

Several youth leaders from political parties, including Adam Adli (PKR Youth chief) and Amir Abd Hadi (Muda co-founder), joined in the protest and gave speeches.

Also present were International Islamic University Malaysia student union president Aliff Naif and members of various NGOs.

Police had earlier blocked vehicles from entering Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman in anticipation of today’s protest.

On Thursday, a group calling itself “Turun Malaysia” said it would stage a protest and called on students and other young Malaysians to gather at the shopping complex to make their voices heard over the hike in the price of goods and the rising cost of living.

Yesterday, Dang Wangi district police chief Noor Dellhan Yahaya said the authorities were not notified about the protest as required under the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012, and that action would be taken against those involved.

However, the organisers led by Selangor Amanah Youth chief Abbas Azmin, Undi18 co-founder Qyira Yusri and Universiti Malaya students’ union president Ooi Guo Shen said they would go ahead “because the right to assemble is guaranteed under the law”.

Adam told the crowd that the protest today is to “remind” the government to look into the people’s plight.

“Our demands are very clear,” he said.

Meanwhile, Amir said the people will not stay silent over the rising cost of living which is affecting them badly.

He said the protesters are also demanding for the removal of ministers who are not performing, adding that it could help the government cut down on its expenses.

The five key demands by the protesters were for ministers to take a pay cut, government subsidies to be continued, control on the price of goods, to check the issue of food security, and to provide proper assistance to the people.

The protesters started dispersing shortly after 3pm when the police barred them from marching to Dataran Merdeka.

Authorities in the southwestern Chinese region of Guangxi have jailed a prominent critic of the ruling Communist Party for four-and-a-half years after he spoke out about a woman found chained in an outbuilding in Jiangsu earlier this year, RFA has learned.

The Guigang Municipal People's Court on Nov. 20 handed down a four-year, six-month jail term to Lu Huihuang -- who has previously also called for democratic reforms -- after finding him guilty of "incitement to subvert state power," the rights group Weiquanwang reported.

"[Lu] refused to accept the judgment and has expressed his intention to appeal," the report said, describing Lu as a "freelance and online writer, a dissident citizen, rights activist and political prisoner."

He was taken away from his home in Nanning city by police from Guigang on Feb. 18, 2022 "for calling on the ruling Chinese Communist Party to thoroughly investigate the case of the chained woman in Xuzhou," the site reported.

Lu is currently being held in the Guigang Detention Center in Batang township, Guigang, it said.

Guangxi resident Nong Dingcai said Lu's friends had been informed of his sentence, and of his intention to appeal, by the detention center.

"The detention center called some of his friends in China, saying that Lu Huihuang had been sentenced to four-and a half years," Nong told RFA.

"The charge was 'incitement to subvert state power.' He has requested an appeal."

Nong said not all of the information about Lu's case has been released, and his family members are under close surveillance.

Authorities have yet to release any official information about Lu's case. In China, the crime of "incitement to subvert state power" is considered confidential and related trials are held in secret.

Suggesting democratic reforms

According to Weiquanwang, Lu has written a number of essays and open letters to the Communist Party leadership since 2013, proffering suggestions on democratic reforms to China's political system.

"[The articles] suggested that the Communist Party carry out democratic and constitutional reforms as soon as possible, and found resonance with people online," it said, adding that the articles were extensively forwarded and read via groups on the QQ and WeChat social media platforms, as well as being published on overseas websites like Beijing Spring and China Labor Watch.

It said Lin had previously served a two-and-a-half year jail term in Guangdong's Conghua Prison, during which he was tortured with electric shocks, kept in manacles and forced to sleep on the floor for long periods of time because he refused to plead guilty or make a "confession."

Fellow dissident Lin Shengliang said Lu's criticism of the case of the chained woman was likely just an excuse for the authorities to re-detain him.

"It's thought that Lu Huihuang's secret detention was linked to the case of the chained woman, because he published too many posts about it on his group chats," Lin told RFA. "But given the harshness of the sentence, there were probably other baseless accusations too."

He said supporters who had tried to visit Lu's parents had also been detained.

"Given that his parents are under security measures, a lot of people who went to visit them were immediately taken away by local police and village officials," Lin said.

He said Lu has been unable to hire an independent lawyer, because his family are being "cooperative" with the authorities, which generally means agreeing to have him represented by a government-appointed lawyer.

"Lu Huihuang actually asked a prison guard to get a message to me asking me to help him find an attorney, but the local state security police didn't allow us to mail the instruction letter to Lu Huihuang so he could sign it," Lin said.

"We don't know what is happening with him, how legal the investigation, prosecution or trial were, nor whether he was tortured."

New era of authoritarian rule

Lin said the authorities have entered a new era of authoritarian rule.

"Under the new authoritarianism, the government uses a powerful state machine to crush dissidents," he said. "As the social and political environment continues to deteriorate, the crime of inciting subversion of state power will be more widely and freely used by China’s powerful agencies."

In December 2021, authorities in Guangxi handed down a three-year jail term to outspoken rights lawyer Chen Jiahong for "subversion," amid fears for his safety in detention. Chen had been a prominent critic of the government.

On China's tightly controlled internet, Chen was known for inscribing the slogan "Set up an assassination detail, liquidate this evil bureaucracy and promote democracy" in Chinese calligraphy and posting it to social media.

Fellow Guangxi lawyer Qin Yongpei was detained in early November 2021 by the Nanning municipal police department during a raid on his Baijuying legal consultancy company, after speaking out many times about misconduct and injustices perpetrated by police and local judicial officials.

A Vietnamese court in Dong Nai Province on November 22 sentenced a Vietnamese couple to prison on the charge of “abusing democratic freedoms to infringe on the State and individuals’ interests” under Article 331 of the Penal Code, RFA reported. Nguyen Thai Hung, a local Youtuber running his personal channel called “Telling the Truth TV,” where he discussed multiple social and political issues in Vietnam, received a four-year prison sentence. At the same time, Vu Thi Kim Hoang, Hung’s wife, received a two-and-a-half-year sentence on the same charge. RFA reported that both were tried without the presence of a lawyer. Hoang, 44, told RFA that she and Hung first hired lawyer Nguyen Van Mieng as their defense lawyer, but they had to dismiss their lawyer after being pressured by the police. Hoang added that although the trial was open to the public, only their daughter was allowed inside the courtroom, while other relatives had to remain at the building entrance. According to the indictment via RFA, from June 2020 to January 2022, Hung used his YouTube channel to host 21 online discussions that contained content “speaking badly of the [Communist] Party and the State, distorting the government’s socio-economic policy, slandering the Party and State’s high-level leaders, and distorting recent high-profile incidents.” Meanwhile, Hoang was accused of “being a related and supportive person” for providing Hung with accommodations and letting him use her laptop and access her bank account. It was reported that Hoang admitted the acts in court, while Hung pleaded innocent, claiming that he was exercising his right to freedom of speech and democratic rights by live-streaming his talks on YouTube.

A primary school teacher from Sagaing Region’s Tamu Township has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for financing “terrorist” activities, according to a source close to her family.

Honey Su Kyi Zaw, 30, was arrested at her home in Tamu’s Saw Bwar 6 Ward on November 23 last year and accused of financially supporting the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) against military rule.

The Tamu District Court sentenced her on Monday, two days before the anniversary of her arrest, the family source told Myanmar Now.

She was prosecuted under Section 50j of Myanmar’s Counter-Terrorism Law for distributing funds provided by the shadow National Unity Government (NUG) for CDM teachers, the source said.

The military junta that seized power in February 2021 designated the NUG a terrorist organisation in May last year.

“She was collecting donations for teachers who had tested positive for Covid-19. It wasn’t as they alleged,” said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The source added that the evidence against Honey Su Kyi Zaw was provided by KBZ Bank, which submitted account information that allegedly showed transactions involving other accounts linked to the NUG.

“They didn’t find any evidence on her phone. She was unjustly accused and prosecuted,” the source said.

Honey Su Kyi Zaw was a teacher at Primary School No. 8 in Chauk Natgyi, a village in Tamu Township. Residents there say that she was likely targeted because she was a member of the ousted ruling party, the National League for Democracy (NLD).

“She didn’t like the military coup, so she joined protests and the CDM. She was an NLD member, but she also spoke out against party members if she thought they were acting dishonestly,” said one local resident.

“After joining the CDM, she made handicrafts and sold them online to support herself. She was an honest and peaceful teacher,” he added.

Honey Su Kyi Zaw has been held at the police station in Tamu since her arrest. She remains there for the time being due to the poor security situation on the road from Tamu to Kalay, where she will later be transferred to prison, sources said.

Since last year’s coup, the junta has prosecuted hundreds of people under Section 50j of the Counter-Terrorism Law without concrete evidence. Conviction carries a sentence of 10 years to life imprisonment.

After Ah Hla Lay Thuzar, a Burmese journalist better known by the pseudonym of Ma Thuzar, received a two-year jail sentence today, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on UN officials tasked with monitoring Myanmar to take tougher action to get the leaders of its military junta to stop normalising the terror they have been imposing on media personnel.

A freelance reporter based in Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city, Ma Thuzar, was sentenced this morning to two years in prison with hard labour by a court inside Insein prison, which is located in a Yangon suburb. Arrested on 1 September 2021, she had spent nearly 15 months in pretrial detention.

Initially reported by Burmese-language social media, her sentence was confirmed by RSF at midday. She was prosecuted under Section 505 (a) of Myanmar’s penal code, which – inter alia, – punishes inciting “hatred against the army forces.”

“Ma Thuzar’s totally arbitrary conviction is another sign of the normalisation of terror against journalists that the ruling junta in Naypyidaw has managed to impose,” said Daniel Bastard, the head of RSF’s Asia-Pacific desk. “We call on Tom Andrews, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, to take action to toughen international sanctions on Myanmar’s generals and to prevent them, once and for all, from regarding their treatment of journalists as just one of the variables of their absolute despotism.”

Constant threat of arrest

The State Administration Council, as the military junta is officially known, announced “pardons” on 16 November for several thousand detainees including five Burmese journalists – Mya Wun Yan (also known as Hla Yin Win), La Pyae, Than Htike Aung, San Myint and Ye Yint Tun – and for Toru Kubota, a Japanese documentary filmmaker, who was immediately expelled.

Although they were “pardoned,” their convictions were not overturned, with the result that the five Burmese journalists could easily be jailed again on any spurious grounds cooked up by the military.

These pardons are just a drop in the ocean alongside the number of journalists still detained in Myanmar, which currently stands at 61, according to RSF’s press freedom barometer. This makes Myanmar the world’s second biggest jailer of media personal, second only to China. In proportion to its population, it is the biggest.

Myanmar is ranked 176th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2022 World Press Freedom Index.

After Fact Focus, a Pakistani investigative website was rendered totally or partially inaccessible on 21 November when it reported that the army chief’s family had become extremely rich in recent years, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on Pakistan’s civilian authorities to ensure respect for its citizens' right to journalism that serves the public interest.

“This site can't be reached.” That’s the message that Pakistanis have repeatedly encountered when trying to access the Fact Focus site, which was completely blocked on 21 November after it posted its “Bajwa Leaks” story about the extraordinary wealth accumulated by Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa’s family since he became Chief of Army Staff, as the army’s top general is known.

“It is unacceptable in a mature democracy that a perfectly sourced and careful investigative report about an issue of considerable public interest for Pakistanis should be brutally censored in this way,” said Daniel Bastard, the head of RSF’s Asia-Pacific desk. “We call on information and broadcasting minister Marriyum Aurangzeb to ensure that Fact Focus remains fully accessible to Pakistani citizens and is able to continue publishing its reports with complete freedom. The credibility of the civilian government and the rule of law are at stake.”

The Fact Focus site remained completely inaccessible for more that 20 hours on 21 November. After RSF and other civil society representatives reported the ongoing censorship, it finally became partially accessible again.

“More loyal to the king than the king himself”

Fact Focus editors told RSF that the site’s blocking was carried out by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, a governmental agency, on the orders of the prime minister and the minister of information and broadcasting.

“This is what we were told by our contacts in these offices,” said a senior editor, speaking on condition of anonymity. “It is not clear if this was done under pressure from the military or if the government decided to be more loyal to the king than the king himself.”

In this case, the “king” is Gen. Bajwa, whose family has acquired assets worth 12.7 billion rupees (55 million euros), according to the Fact Focus investigation. Since he took over as army chief six years ago, the worth of his wife’s assets alone have gone from zero to 2.2 billion rupees (9.5 million euros), the website said.

Deep state

With this investigation, Fact Focus has put precise and sourced numbers to a reality that many Pakistanis have sensed without knowing it, namely the military establishment’s stranglehold on a commercial empire worth billions of rupees.

A sort of “state within the state,” Pakistan’s armed forces rarely tolerate any form of scrutiny by the media. In an analysis published in July, RSF showed how – beneath the surface of a change in the civilian government in April – the Pakistani military had stepped up its intimidation of journalists who dare to criticise it.

Pakistan is ranked 157th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2022 World Press Freedom Index.

More than a dozen Afghan women protested briefly in Kabul on November 24, calling for their rights to be recognized on the eve of the UN's International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Afghan women have been squeezed out of public life since the Taliban's return to power in August last year, but small groups have staged flash protests that are usually quickly shut down, sometimes violently. Earlier this month the Taliban barred women from entering parks, funfairs, gyms, and public baths.The veiled women carried pickets with slogans decrying the deprivation of their rights under the Taliban. The march organizers said the Taliban had briefly detained three of the demonstrators.

Unknown assailants have broken a window at the offices of the Elmedia television channel in Kazakhstan’s largest city, Almaty. The attack came weeks after a similar attack shattered the office's glass doors and a large inscription was left in red on the sidewalk in front of the office in what employees believe was a warning to independent media. Elmedia said on Telegram on November 23 that the office's doors were also broken in the overnight attack. Intimidation and attacks on independent media outlets in the country have been frequent for years.

On November 10, Jurnalisa, the chief editor for online media outlet Kabargayo.com, was threatened by two project managers overseeing the construction of a traditional market in the Ketol district of western Indonesia’s Aceh province. Arriving at the journalist’s home in the early morning, the two assailants attempted to strike Jurnalisa and allegedly said they wanted to kill him.

The day before the incident, Jurnalisa published an article detailing several budgetary and scheduling issues with the ongoing development of the Rejewali traditional market, due for completion on December 15. Jurnalisa had attempted to obtain a quote from the project administrator before publishing the piece but received no answer.

In Indonesia, many journalists in both metro and regional areas face incidents of harassment. On October 29, police officers from Polres Tomohon, North Sulawesi, summoned local Manado Pos journalist Julius Laatung for his coverage of an illegal lottery. En route to the police station, police officers interrogated Laatung, demanding that he betray the confidentiality of his sources and accused him of publishing the story to discredit the police.

In a separate incident on November 7, North Sulawesi police harassed and arrested Sulawesian reporter Noufriadi Sururama while he was at a land dispute protest in Mandolang.

On 23 November 2022, the Bishkek City Court reviewed the appeal filed by the State Prosecutor against the decision to partially acquit human rights defender and journalist Bolot Temirov. The Court of Appeals upheld the decision of the Sverdlovsk District Court of Bishkek declaring that Bolot Temirov is guilty of document fraud and unprecedentedly ruled to deport human rights defender to Russia. Bolot Temirov was violently detained on site in the court room. At around 7:40 PM, Bolot Temirov was noticed in Manas International Airport accompanied by six law enforcement officers heading to the border control section

Bolot Temirov is a Kyrgyzstani human rights defender and prominent journalist, investigating corruption. In January 2020, the human rights defender founded the YouTube-based media outlet “Temirov Live”, that investigates and reports on corruption of state and non-state actors. In 2021, he was recognised by the U.S. State Department as an anti-corruption champion and was awarded the International Anti-Corruption Champions Award for his work to combat corruption in Kyrgyzstan.

On 23 November 2022, the Bishkek City Court reviewed the appeal filed by the State Prosecutor against the decision to partially acquit human rights defender and journalist Bolot Temirov and ruled to deport human rights defender to Russia. The Court ruled the Bolot Temirov is guilty of illegally obtaining his Kyrgystan passport and his military ID, and ruled in favour of human rights defender deportation to Russia, since Bolot Temirov also has Russian citizenship. The judge of the Court of Appeals unprecedentedly added a sanction to the decision of the First Instance Court in the form of deportation, despite the fact that the statue of limitation on this violation has passed.

Previously, the Sverdlovsk District Court of Bishkek found Bolot Temirov guilty of document fraud, but did not set up any punishment as the statute of limitation on the document fraud crime has expired. Bolot Temirov was violently detained in the court room and was raken away by a police vehicle. At the moment, human rights defender’s whereabouts are unknown even to his legal team.

On 22 September 2022, the Sverdlovsk District Court of Bishkek acquitted human rights defender and journalist Bolot Temirov from charges on drug posession and illegal border crossing. The human rights defender was charged with document fraud, however, due to the expiration of the statute of limitation on this crime, Bolot Temirov did not face any penalty. The State Prosecutor accused Bolot Temirov with two counts of documents fraud, one count of illegal border crossing and one count of drug possession and asked for 5 years of prison time.

On 20 January 2022, Bolot Temirov Live published a video investigating the alleged involvement of the family members of State Committee for National Security Head, Kamchybek Tashiev, in a corruption scheme relating to a state-owned petroleum refinery. On 22 January 2022, nine masked police officers raided for three hours the office of the YouTube-based outlet, Temirov Live, in Bishkek, without a warrant. During the raid, police officers confiscated all computers and forced male staff members to stay on the ground. According to Bolot Temirov, the officers planted a bag of drugs in his back pocket while pinning him down. Bolot Temirov was arrested without being given any reasons, and his lawyer was unable to meet him for several hours. While the human rights defender was detained, he underwent questioning and a urine test that resulted negative for drugs. According to Bolot Temirov, his arrest was in retaliation for an investigation where he denounced state corruption, which he published on Terminov Live in January 2022. The State Committee for National Security (CNS) officers confiscated Temirov Live’s security camera footage, showing the raid, including the planting of the drugs on the human rights defender.

In April 2022, Temirov Live published another investigation concerning Kamchybek Tashiev and their involvement in the corruption schemes with state tenders. On 17 May 2022, Bolot Temirov was stripped of his Kyrgyzstan citizenship by the Ministry of the Interior. Bolot Temirov’s passport was listed on the database of the National Registration Agency of the Kyrgyztan Republic Government as invalid, without any official court decision. The state launched new criminal cases against human rights defender concerining alledged document fraud and illegal border crossing.

Front Line Defenders is deeply concerned with the unprecedented decision of deport human rights defender and journalist Bolot Temirov to Russia. Front Line Defenders sees this judicial harrassment as a retaliation for Bolot Temirov’s human rights work as investigative journalist and as a part of the newly emerging pattern of targetting human rights defenders and journalists for their non-violent human rights work. Such targeting undermines access to free and independent press and limit the freedom of speech and expression in Kyrgyzstan. Front Line Defenders call upon the Kyrgyzstan authorities to fully acquit human rights defender Bolot Temirov.

Protesters pushed to the brink by China's strict COVID measures in Shanghai called for the removal of the country's all-powerful leader and clashed with police Sunday as crowds took to the streets in several cities in an astounding challenge to the government.

Police forcibly cleared the demonstrators in China's financial capital who called for Xi Jinping's resignation and the end of the Chinese Communist Party's rule — but hours later people rallied again in the same spot, and social media reports indicated protests also spread to at least seven other cities, including the capital of Beijing, and dozens of university campuses.

Largescale protests are exceedingly rare in China, where public expressions of dissent are routinely stifled — but a direct rebuke of Xi, the country’s most powerful leader in decades, is extraordinary.

Three years after the virus first emerged, China is the only major country still trying to stop transmission of COVID-19 — a “zero COVID” policy that regularly sees millions of people confined to their homes for weeks at a time and requires near-constant testing. The measures were originally widely accepted for minimizing deaths while other countries suffered devastating waves of infections, but that consensus has begun to fray in recent weeks.

Then on Friday, 10 people died in a fire in an apartment building, and many believe their rescue was delayed because of excessive lockdown measures. That sparked a weekend of protests, as the Chinese public’s ability to tolerate the harsh measures has apparently reached breaking point.

Hundreds of demonstrators gathered late Saturday in Shanghai, which experienced a devastating lockdown in the spring in which people struggled to secure groceries and medicines and were forcefully taken into centralized quarantine.

On a street named for the city in China's far west where the fire happened, one group of protesters brought candles, flowers and signs honoring those who died in the blaze. Another, according to a protester who insisted on anonymity, was more active, shouting slogans and singing the national anthem.

In a video of the protest seen by The Associated Press, chants sounded loud and clear: “Xi Jinping! Step down! CCP! Step down!” Xi, arguably China’s most dominant leader since Mao Zedong, was recently named to another term as head of the ruling Chinese Communist Party, and some expect him to try to stay in power for life.

The protester and another, who gave only his last name, Zhao, confirmed the chants. Both insisted on having their identities shielded because they fear arrest or retribution.

The atmosphere of the protest encouraged people to speak about topics considered taboo, including the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre in which the ruling Communist Party had ordered troops to fire on pro-democracy student demonstrators, the unnamed protester said. Some also called for an official apology for the deaths in the fire in Urumqi in the Xinjiang region. One member of the Uyghur ethnic group that is native to Xinjiang and has been the target of a sweeping security crackdown shared his experiences of discrimination and police violence.

“Everyone thinks that Chinese people are afraid to come out and protest, that they don’t have any courage,” said the protester, who said it was his first time demonstrating. “Actually in my heart, I also thought this way. But then when I went there, I found that the environment was such that everyone was very brave.”

Initially peaceful, the scene turned violent in the early hours of Sunday. Hundreds of police surrounded the protesters and broke up the first more active group before they came for the second as they tried to move people off the main street. The protester said that he saw multiple people being taken away, forced by police into vans, but could not identify them.

The protester named Zhao said one of his friends was beaten by police and two were pepper sprayed. He said police stomped his feet as he tried to stop them from taking his friend away. He lost his shoes in the process and left the protest barefoot.

Zhao said protesters yelled slogans, including one that has become a frequent rallying cry: “(We) do not want PCR (tests), but want freedom.”

On Sunday afternoon, crowds returned to the same spot and again railed against PCR tests. People stood and filmed as police started shoving at people.

A crowdsourced list on social media showed that there were also demonstrations at 50 universities. Videos posted on social media that said they were filmed in Nanjing in the east, Guangzhou in the south, Beijing in the north and at least five other cities showed protesters tussling with police in white protective suits or dismantling barricades used to seal off neighborhoods. The Associated Press could not independently verify all the protests.

In Beijing, students at the nation's top college, Tsinghua University, held a demonstration Sunday afternoon in front of one of the school's cafeterias. Three young women stood there initially with a simple message of condolence for the victims of the Urumqi apartment fire, according to a witness, who refused to be named out of fear of retribution, and images of the protest the AP has seen.

Students shouted, “freedom of speech” and sang The Internationale, the socialist anthem. The deputy Communist Party secretary of the school arrived at the protest, promising to hold a schoolwide discussion.

Meanwhile, two cities in China’s northwest, where residents have been confined to their homes for up to four months, eased some antivirus controls Sunday after public protests Friday.

Meanwhile, Urumqi, where the fire occurred, as well as the smaller city of Korla were preparing to reopen markets and other businesses in areas deemed at low risk of virus transmission and to restart bus, train and airline service, state media reported.

Award-winning environmentalist Nguy Thi Khanh will have her prison sentence reduced by three months.

On November 21, Khanh’s sentence was reduced from 24 months to 21 months by an appellate court in Hanoi.

Khanh, one of Vietnam’s most prominent environmental experts, was sentenced to two years in prison in June on “tax evasion” charges. Khanh is the first Vietnamese person to receive the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize, in 2018, which came with a $200,000 prize. The tax evasion charge stems from the fact that Khanh failed to pay about $18,000 in taxes (10% of the prize). Khanh has said she was unaware of the tax obligation on the prize money. The reduction in her sentence was reportedly attributed to her admission of failure to pay the tax and her many contributions to society.

There is evidence to suggest that Khanh’s arrest and prosecution are politically-motivated. An outspoken critic of the use of coal, Khanh joined three other anti-coal environmental activists– Mai Phan Loi, Dang Dinh Bach, and Bach Hung Duong— who were convicted earlier this year on similar charges and handed multi-year sentences.

Vietnam’s tax laws for registered NGOs are confusing and cumbersome. Further, Khanh, like her counterparts, faced criminal, not civil proceedings, which have been supervised by state security. Khanh also did not receive notice of need for repayment prior to her arrest. The cases raise flags of a widening crackdown on civil society groups that contradicts Vietnam’s public rhetoric on the importance of fighting climate change.

Vietnam’s jailing of climate leaders seems to have been at least partly the reason why international donors recently awarded Indonesia, instead of Vietnam, with billions of dollars to fight climate change. If Vietnam is serious about its commitments to an energy transition, it cannot continue to hold its most valuable environmental voices behind bars nor force NGOs to navigate perplexing tax laws. We call on Vietnam to clarify its tax laws and to release Khanh, Duong, Loi, and Bach immediately. We will continue to closely monitor these cases until their release.

Footwear unionists in Takeo were summoned and questioned by military police after attending a Women’s Crisis Center training in Phnom Penh, saying officers asked who was behind them and warned them of illegal protests.

Union leaders from Tram Kak district’s Shoe Premier II, which has supplied boots to the U.S., attended a training course on November 16 on rights in the workplace, gender issues and sexual harassment, said Chhan Samoeun, president for the Workers’ Movement Union at the factory.

But once they returned, Takeo military police called them in for questioning, Samoeun said.

“We joined the training to gain experience and [to learn] to teach other workers to understand sexual harassment and gender,” he said.

Nget Rem, secretary for another union at Shoe Premier II, the Free Trade Union, said she had not even attended the Phnom Penh training hosted by the Cambodian Women’s Crisis Center but was summoned for questioning anyway.

Military police questioned her about what demands they had at the factory, whether there were previous labor disputes there, and if any NGOs were behind their union. Officers reminded her that the military police would stop them from holding any illegal protests at Shoe Premier II, Rem said.

“They said we just do whatever we want, but if there is any issue, who is going to take responsibility? They said this in a manner like they don’t want us to protest in this factory. They wanted it to mean that,” she said.

Takeo military police commander La Lai could not be reached for comment, but the unit issued a statement acknowledging that the force had called in representatives from three unions at Shoe Premier II: the Workers’ Movement Union, Free Trade Union and Cambodian Hope Workers’ Union.

Pav Sina, president of Collective Union of Movement of Workers, said the questioning was a threat and serious intimidation against the registered unionists.

An association that informs tuk-tuk drivers of labor rights says local officials won’t allow it to put up its logo outside a Poipet branch office.

Prom Bunthorn, president of the Cambodia Development People Life Association, said he had submitted letters to Banteay Meanchey provincial police and Poipet city administration on Monday, but the city authorities said the association would not be allowed without another letter from the property owner.

The group trains informal workers such as tuk-tuk drivers on labor rights in Poipet and Siem Reap, informs rural residents about their human rights, and conducts agricultural training with other NGOs, Bunthorn said.

The Phnom Penh-headquartered association is registered with the Interior Ministry and has offices in Kampong Speu, Kandal, Takeo and Siem Reap, and should only need to inform authorities about signage rather than seek permission, he said.

“I think the fact that local authorities require more complicated procedures is a kind of restriction against the freedoms of civil society, especially for my association in serving members in Poipet city,” Bunthorn said on Thursday.

Poipet city governor Keat Hul said he had not received any information about the incident, and did not see why there should be any problem putting up the association’s logo.

“I don’t know about this case, but generally, if he has proper legal standing, there’s nothing to ban,” Hul said. “Firstly, he has proper legal standing. Secondly, he is putting up a logo on his private land. So there’s nothing to ban.”

Human rights group Licadho’s spokesperson Am Sam Ath said denying a registered association from putting up signs would be unacceptable.

NagaWorld union leader Chhim Sithar was questioned at the Phnom Penh International Airport today and has been sent to prison, with a police official saying she violated her bail conditions.

Phnom Penh Police spokesperson San Sokseyha said the immigration police had arrested Sithar at the airport because the Phnom Penh Municipal Court issued an arrest warrant for the union leader.

He said this was because she had traveled overseas, which was against her bail conditions. He added that she had been taken to court.

“This morning the Phnom Penh police cooperated with [immigration at] the airport because of an arrest warrant of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court for failure to comply with the court decision on March 14, 2022,” he said, referring to the day Sithar was released on bail.

“Sithar doesn’t have a right to leave Cambodia unless the court decides for her.”

Sithar and 10 others are on bail, but it was unclear whether they were prevented from traveling overseas, and whether there were restrictions on reasons she could leave the country.

Licadho, which represents some of the charged NagaWorld workers, said Sithar had been moved to Prey Sar prison this afternoon.

The rights group added that Sithar’s lawyers were not aware or informed of “any judicial supervision or probation conditions, such as travel restrictions.”

According to information from labor rights group Central, the union leader was returning from a labor conference in Australia when immigration officers at the international airport scanned her passport and then escorted her away for questioning.

Central added that Sithar was arrested at around 10 a.m. Saturday morning and that rights groups and her lawyers have not been able to reach the prominent union leader since.

Sithar was violently arrested near the National Assembly in January and jailed with at least 10 other union colleagues earlier this year. They were released in March after signing letters requesting the Labor ministry for bail and agreeing to suspend the strike to enable negotiations.

The union went on strike last December after NagaCorp terminated more than 1,300 workers. The nearly yearlong protest started off strong but has since withered down to less than 200 protesters, who have attempted to continue their protest on a weekly basis in the face of violence from the police.

25 people were arrested on Friday (18 November) after crowd control police forcibly dispersed protesters marching to the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre (QSNCC), the venue of the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting, to protest the government under Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha and its pro-corporation economic models.

Protesters and activists had been gathering at Lan Khon Muang square in front of the Bangkok City Hall since Wednesday (16 November) to protest what they see at the Thai government’s attempt to boost its legitimacy on the international stage and the lack of participation from civil society in determining policies being proposed at APEC meetings. They also spoke out against the Bio-Circular-Green Economy Model (BCG), raising concerns that the model would worsen community right issues facing marginalized and vulnerable groups, would take away their resources and land, and is an attempt at greenwashing the country’s major corporations with its carbon credit model.

During the two days of protests, activists spoke about various political and social issues, from freedom of expression and the royal defamation law to land rights, food security, community rights, and environmental justice. The events were organized by a network of activist groups and civil society organizations, including the Assembly of the Poor, the Northern Peasant Federation, the Chana Rak Thin Network, Neo Lanna and Thalufah.

On Friday morning (18 November), the protesters began marching from Lan Khon Muang to the QSNCC. However, they were blocked by a series of police barriers. As they were approaching the Democracy Monument via Dinso Road, they found that the road was blocked by rows of crowd control police in full riot gear and two police trucks. Protest leaders attempted to negotiate with the police, but were not successful.

At 10.10, after protesters tied a rope to the axle of one of the police trucks and pulled it out of the road, crowd control police rushed out from behind the blockade, pushing protestors with shields. Rubber bullets were also fired, and two rubber bullet casings were found on the ground at the site of the clash.

Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) reported at around 12.10 that at least 10 people were arrested and taken to Thung Song Hong Police Station, despite the protest taking place outside its jurisdiction.

After the clash, pro-democracy activist Patsaravalee Tanakitvibulpon said that the police need to explain why they fired rubber bullets at unarmed protesters at close range and after protest leaders tried negotiating with them.

"What happened under the Prayut Chan-o-cha government is that the police officers have no spine and chose to use violence against unarmed people," she said.

Patsaravalee condemned the police and Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha as Prime Minister, and called on the international community to send observers to the protest site.

"We would like to send a message to every country. Please send representatives to observe this location, so that you see the reality of what is happening, what the police are doing to people speaking out about their livelihood and about resources," she said.

Patsaravalee called on the public to pay attention to issues regarding resources, and demanded the release of all arrested protesters.

Protesters are now staying on Dinso Road while activists take turns giving speeches on a speaker truck, but said they will not return to the Lan Khon Muang square in front of the Bangkok City Hall since they have a petition to file with APEC leaders, while the police repeatedly order them to return to Lan Khon Muang and threaten them with prosecution.

At around 12.30, several protesters performed a traditional cursing ritual by burning chilli and salt and placed the stove on a police truck. The police then brought out a fire extinguisher to put out the flame. At around 12.35, crowd control police pushed into the protesters, many of whom were resting and having lunch. Shots were continuously heard.

More protesters were arrested during the second attempt to force protesters out of the area, including Assembly of the Poor’s Baramee Chaiyarat. The police also ordered reporters to separate from the protesters, claiming that some protesters were trying to harm officers. Several people were also reported to have been injured during the second clash, both from rubber bullets and from being assaulted by crowd control police.

At 13.30, activist Patsaravalee Tanakitvibulpon said that the injuries sustained by protesters and members of the press show that police commanders are not able to control their own subordinates. She called on the police to take responsibility and to explain why they fired rubber bullets at unarmed protesters.

Patsaravalee said that they would not end the protest and would not leave until everyone arrested is released, and until they are told where those arrested have been taken and where the injured are being treated. She also asked whether the world leaders attending the APEC meeting would still accept the policies proposed by a government that harms its own people.

At 14.45, TLHR said that 25 people were arrested and taken to Thung Song Hong Police Station. Meanwhile, Patsaravalee announced that the protest would move to the police station to demand the release of the arrested protesters and that they will not leave until everyone is released without charge. The protest database and observation site Mob Data Thailand also reported that at least 33 people were injured throughout the day.

Among the arrested was Worawan Sae-aung, or Auntie Pao, an elderly regular protest-goer popular with younger activists, who was arrested at around 9.30, before the first clash. Worawan was arrested after she was pulled behind the police lines and taken away in a police detention truck, prompting protesters to immediately demand her release.

During the second clash at 12.45, the Assembly of the Poor’s Baramee Chaiyarat and the NGO Coordinating Committee on Development’s Jekapan Phrommongkon were also arrested. Both were previously seen using a speaker truck to call for the police to open up the road to let them keep marching, and were heard giving instructions to protest guards.

From around 16.00 onwards, protesters gathered in front of Thung Song Hong Police Station to demand the unconditional release of the arrested protesters.

While protesters gathered at the police station, activist Lertsak Khamkongsak gave a speech alleging that the protest leaders were asked to have the protesters move 50 metres closer to the Bangkok City Hall because a royal motorcade was to go through Ratchadamneon Road, and speculating that this is why crowd control police became more violent towards the protesters.

He also noted that the police violated the Public Assembly Act, since they are required to request a court order to use crowd control weapons, such as tear gas, batons, rubber bullets, or water cannons, but did not do so.

Lertsak said that it would have been possible to plan for the motorcade. The protesters could have sat down when the motorcade went past, or the police could have lined up around them to block them from view without asking them to move, as that is what happened during an anti-NPO bill protest in May. He asked why they were now being asked to move, and said that there is no other reason why their protest would be so violently dispersed other than the royal motorcade.

In May 2022, activists and members of civil society organizations gathered in front of the UN headquarters on Ratchadamneon Nok Road to protest the new non-profit organization (NPO) bill due to concerns that the bill would be use to restrict freedom of association in Thailand. After protesters refused to move to another location as royal motorcades were passing through Ratchadamneon Nok Road on the way to and from Thammasat Univeristy’s Tha Prachan campus for for the university’s graduation ceremony, hundreds of police officers lined up along the street to block the protesters from view as the royal motorcade went by, and the protesters were not forcibly dispersed.

TLHR reported at around 21.15 on Friday night (17 November) that the 25 arrested protesters were charged with participating in a gathering of 10 or more people and causing a breach of public peace by an act of violence or by threatening violence, and not dispersing when ordered to do so by an official. They were also charged with not complying with an officer’s order given under the Public Assembly Act.

Payu Boonsopon, an activist from the Dao Din group, will also be charged, but since he was undergoing surgery after being shot in his right eye with a rubber bullet, he will meet the inquiry officer to hear the charges and give his testimony once his condition improves.

25-year-old Wittaya (last name withheld), who was also arrested, was given an additional charge of violating the Public Assembly Act and the Public Cleanliness Act, after he was accused of pouring water mixed with cement onto the street in front of the main office of the Siam Cement Group (SCG) and spray-painting “No APEC” on the street during a protest against the BCG model.

The protest was organized by the Chiang Mai-based activist group Neo Lanna, during which activists poured water mixed with cement onto a model of the Democracy Monument and spraying painting messages onto the street. They then shouted “Stop monopoly. Prayut get out,” while others held up a banner saying “No BCG, no free trade area, tax the rich.”

23 protesters were released at around midnight on Friday (18 November). Baramee and Jekapan, meanwhile, were released at noon on Saturday (19 November).

All were granted bail on a security of 20,000 baht each, covered by the Will of the People Fund, a bail fund for pro-democracy protesters and activists. They were also given the conditions that they must not join any political demonstration or invite people to join any gathering that may cause public disorder.

TLHR noted that 13 of the 25 arrested protesters were injured. Some show signs of being assaulted by crowd control officers, such as Wittaya, who has several cuts and bruises on his back, and Palathip, who was shot with a rubber bullet in his right arm and hit with batons, resulting in cuts and bruises on his body and his head, as well as a broken tooth.

Yupa, an elderly woman who was among one of the first protesters arrested, had a cut on her forehead above the left eyebrow, and needed stitches. Meanwhile, Waranyu Khongsathittum, a citizen journalist livestreaming for The Isaan Record, was assaulted by crowd control officers before being arrested. He had a cut on his head and several bruises and cuts on his body, and his glasses were broken. TLHR also said that Waranyu was made to wait 2 hours before hew as taken to a hospital for treatment.

Among the 33 people injured during the clashes between crowd control police and protesters marching to the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre on Friday (18 November), one was shot in the eye with a rubber bullet and is now very likely to go blind.

On Friday (18 November), several reporters were injured and a citizen journalist was assaulted and arrested during a violent dispersal of a protest march that was heading towards the APEC meeting at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre (QSNCC).

A 19-year-old activist was sentenced on Tuesday (22 November) to 2 years in prison after the Central Juvenile and Family Court ruled that the royal defamation law covers not only specific monarchs but also the monarchy as a whole.

Thanakorn (last name withheld) was charged with royal defamation for a speech given at a protest on 6 December 2020, in which they said that Thailand is not a democracy but an absolute monarchy and spoke about the role of the monarchy in military coups. They also called for a national reform. At the time, Thanakorn, who identifies as being part of the LGBTQ+ community, was 17 years old.

Activists Wanwalee Thammasattaya and Chukiat Saengwong were also charged for speeches given during the same protest, but since both were over the age of 20, Wanwalee and Chukiat’s cases are being heard by the Thonburi Criminal Court.

The complaint against the three activists was filed by Chakrapong Klinkaew, leader of the royalist group People Protecting the Institution.

Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) reported that the Central Juvenile and Family found Thanakorn guilty on the grounds that the royal defamation law coves not only specific monarchs but the entire monarchy and sentenced them to 2 years in prison. Given that they were charged at the age of 17, Thanakorn is now the first minor to be charged and convicted for royal defamation.

The court said that, since it believes it would be more beneficial for Thanakorn to go through “training” to improve their behaviour than for them to go to prison, it commuted the prison sentence to a juvenile training centre under the Department of Juvenile Observation and Protection of the Ministry of Justice for a minimum of 1 year and 6 months or a maximum of 3 years, but not after they turn 24 years old.

The court prohibited representatives of human right organizations and anyone not related to the case to observe the trial, claiming that it cannot allow third-party observers because the case involved a minor. After Thanakorn told the court that they wanted trusted persons and rights groups to be present in the court room, the judge said that organizations wishing to observe the trial must request permission from the court.

However, after representatives from Amnesty International told the judge that they have already submitted a request to observe Thanakorn’s trial and presented their letter to the judge, they were told that their request is denied, claiming that Thanakorn was to be tried in secret.

Thanakorn then left the courtroom and filed a petition themself to have representatives from human rights organizations attend the trial so that they would feel safe, and said that it would be in their best interest to have observers in the room. However, their request was denied.

Following Thanakorn’s sentencing, Amnesty International issued a statement noting that at least 283 protesters under the age of 18 have been prosecuted for participating in the protests, the majority of whom were charged with violations of the Emergency Decree, which has since been repealed, while others face charges of defamation, sedition, and dissemination of false information.

The statement noted that Thailand is a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), both of which guarantee children’s freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly. It said that during its Universal Period Review in 2021, Thailand received recommendations to uphold these freedoms for children and to avoid detaining or prosecuting minors who are exercising their rights. However, it also noted that the Thai government has always rejected these recommendations.

Amnesty International Thailand’s executive director Piyanut Kotsan said that Thanakorn’s sentencing sets “a worrying precedent” and creates “a chilling effect” for young people taking part in the pro-democracy movement, and while the prison sentence was commuted, Thanakorn should never have been charged to begin with, and they will still be held in official custody and take part in mandatory training for the duration of their sentence.

She noted that Thanakorn will still have a criminal record, which could affect their professional opportunities, and their sentence would deprive them of the time and resources they could use to pursue education like other young people.

“Young people peacefully expressing their opinions, views and thoughts about the future of the country should not face jail time or restrictive measures that limit their day-to-day activities. Thai authorities must stop intimidating and surveilling child protesters and end criminal proceedings against them,” Piyanut said.

Thanakorn was later granted bail in order to appeal the conviction on a security of 30,000 baht, which was covered by the Will of the People Find, a bail fund for pro-democracy protesters and activists.

The combined officers of the Tanjungpinang Police, Satpol PP, Kesbangpol and Tanjungpinang Immigration Detention again dispersed the demonstration of hundreds of asylum-seeking refugees from Afghanistan which was held at night in front of the shop complex, Jalan DI Panjaitan Tanjungpinang, Riau Archipelago, Tuesday (18/10/2022). The demonstration by hundreds of refugees was disbanded after previously the joint apparatus failed to negotiate so that the refugees would not take action in front of the shop complex because it disrupted traffic and public order. Tanjungpinang Police Chief Kombes Pol Heribertus Ompusunggu said, previously the police had sealed off their shelter at the Badra Bintan Hotel, so they could not hold an action in Tanjungpinang. "The Polres carried out insulation, but they left individually with the excuse of buying personal needs, after being traced it turned out that they had their gathering point, then they both headed to Tanjungpinang," said Kombes Pol Heribertus. Kombes Heribertus further said, the refugees went to Tanjungpinang on foot with the aim of the UNHCR and IOM representative offices. "They carried out the action on the road, but we have separated them earlier so they don't close the road, ended up in shophouses and it is now time for us to finally transport them and return them to the Badra Hotel where they are sheltering," continued the Head of the Tanjungpinang Police. Finally, Kombes Heribertus also said that he would coordinate with the Bintan Police and related agencies so that this refugee action does not happen again.

"Later, together with the Bintan Police, Kesbangpol, we will convey that there is guard in front of the Badra Hotel, so that this does not happen again. Because it disrupts the activities of the community and road users," explained the Tanjungpinang Police Chief. The demonstration was held late into the night by hundreds of refugees from Afghanistan This has been repeated many times in Tanjungpinang. Every action they take, often ends in an attempt to forcibly disband by the joint apparatus.

Farmers in Malin Deman District, Mukomuko Regency, Bengkulu Province have experienced another arrest and suspicion of criminalization. As many as 5 farmers in the district were criminalized, on charges of theft of palm fruit by PT Daria Darma Pratama (DDP).

On October 5, 2022, Hamdi and three workers harvesting oil palm from the land he was cultivating, were summoned by the Mukomuko Police to be questioned in an alleged case of theft of palm fruit. This summons is based on Police Report Number: LP/B/556/IX/2022/SPKT/Polres Mukomuko/Polda Bengkulu, dated 20 September 2022.

At around 14.30 WIB the three harvest workers appeared before the investigator Aiptu Madyana in the Mukomuko Police Headquarters room and were immediately questioned as witnesses. Then at 16.15 WIB the Criminal Investigation Unit asked Hamdi to enter the investigator's room to be questioned as a witness on PT DDP's report.

A few hours later, at around 20.30 WIB, Hamdi, Randa Fernando, Muhtar and Dosi Saputra finished being questioned by investigators and were asked to wait outside the room because a case was immediately being held.

At around 22.30 WIB, the investigators summoned the four of them back into the room, this time along with their attorney, and in the room it was announced that the four of them had been named suspects. The lawyer for the farmers, Saman Lating, questioned the basis for naming the suspect against his client, as well as PT DDP's legal standing as a reporter to Madyana, but these questions received no answer.

"I see that investigators have hidden something from the determination of our client as a suspect, because investigators cannot explain the basis for determining the suspect and the legal standing of PT DDP as the reporter, because the land that was harvested belonged to Hamdi's brother who was cultivated from around 1989, before the existence of PT BBS. especially PT DDP," explained Saman Lating, in his written statement to Betahita.

Apart from arresting farmers and farm workers, six days earlier, the police also arrested Rahmad Sidi, another farmer from Talang Baru Village, on the same charge of stealing PT DDP's palm fruit. The determination of the suspect without clear reasons then prompted dozens of Malin Deman residents to come to the Mukomuko Police.

Chronology of Land Conflicts

Back in 1986, before the existence of PT Bina Bumi Sejahtera (BBS) HGU, the land that became the object of conflict was the customary territory of Malin Deman District. This is evidenced by land tenure by local indigenous peoples. The people use the land to grow rice, coffee and jengkol in Talang Arah Village, Malin Deman District.

One of the indigenous people who manages the area is Darmin (65). In 1991-1992 PT BBS started measuring the land and began unilaterally evictions, because the farmers who worked the land did not want to sell the land that they had managed for generations.

On August 1, 1995, the North Bengkulu Regency National Land Agency (BPN) issued an HGU certificate for PT BBS, with Number 34 with an area of ​​1,889 hectares, with the commodity type cocoa/chocolate. Certificates are issued based on the Decree of the Minister of Land Number: 42/HGU/BPN/95. dated June 12, 1995.

The planting process is carried out by PT BBS. Approximately 350 hectares are planted with cocoa/cacao and 14 hectares are planted with hybrid coconut. However, since 1997 PT BBS has stopped managing its HGU land. The cessation of PT BBS's activities has forced the community to work on abandoned land by planting oil palm, rubber, jengkol, durian and other plants.

In 2005-2012 PT DDP conveyed verbally to the community working on the ex-PT BBS land, that the company had purchased the ex-PT BBS land. At that time 24 farmers were forced to accept compensation. The PT DDP company then cleared the land cultivated by the farmers and planted oil palm -- different from PT BBS's HGU commodity.

In 2012, farmers who did not want to receive compensation from PT DDP had their land forcibly evicted. A number of farmers, namely Ali Martopo (40), Abdullah (43), Sendri (29) and Darmin (65) experienced intimidation during the process of confiscating their cultivated land.

The intimidation received from the police was also experienced by other farmers who until now have managed to control the land. The farmers have tried to write to the Mukomuko Regency DPRD and the MukoMuko Regency DPRD has followed up by summoning PT DDP, the Mukomuko Regency Plantation Office, and the Mukomuko Regency BPN.

The chairman of the Mukomuko district legislature, Arnadi Pelam, stated in a hearing that PT DDP's control over the ex-BBS land was illegal, so PT DDP was asked to stop all its activities on the status quo land.

Four police officers in North Halmahera, North Maluku, allegedly tortured a student named Yulius Yatu alias Ongen (YY alias O) until he fainted. The victim was also put in a dog kennel and forced to apologize to a dog.

Quoted from Kompas.com, the inhumane actions of 4 North Halmahera Police officers against him were reported by the victim to the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (KontraS).

KontraS Deputy Coordinator Rivanlee Anandar said that the incident occurred on September 20, 2022, a day after the victim made a WhatsApp status related to securing a demonstration of rising fuel prices.

''A day later, 4 unidentified people came to look for victims at his residence at around 21.00 WIT. While the four perpetrators asked the victim about the identity of a photo, the perpetrators suddenly punched him right in the face, strangled the victim, and took him out of the house to a public road," said Rivanlee in a written statement received by Kompas.com, Thursday (6/10 /2022).

"When the victim was dragged away, the perpetrator continued to beat the victim causing bruises under the eyes, cracked lower lip, and strangled the victim again until the victim fainted," he added.

The victim was then taken by 4 perpetrators to the North Halmahera Police, dragged and put in a dog kennel. It is said that the victim was even threatened with death until no one knew, before being beaten, kicked, forced to roll over again, until told to prostrate and do push-ups.

"Furthermore, the victim was forced to squat and run around the area of ​​the North Halmahera Police, until he rolled on the asphalt road, and again ran around the volleyball field 5 times," said Rivanlee.

"While forced to carry out the order, the victim continued to be intimidated and told to apologize to the sniffer dogs of the North Halmahera Police," he added.

The torture is said to have lasted 2 hours before the victim was taken home by one of the perpetrators.

KontraS also asked that this incident be investigated by the North Maluku Regional Police Chief and the perpetrators be given maximum punishment for the sake of a deterrent effect. They insisted that methods such as these should not be used in any case settlement.

"Apart from that, we also urge the victims and their families to be given the widest possible access to information regarding the ongoing legal process against the perpetrators," said Rivanlee.

The Perpetrator Has Been Detained

The North Maluku Regional Police admitted that they had followed up on the alleged violence committed by the person on duty at the North Halmahera Police against the victim YY.

Head of North Maluku Regional Police Public Relations, Kombes Pol Michael Irwan Tamsil explained, the case is now being handled both criminally and ethically by the police.

For criminal acts, it is handled by the Directorate of General Criminal Investigation while ethics is handled by Propam.

"The order from the Chief of Regional Police, we will act decisively, first we will do it criminally which was carried out by Crimem, secondly it will be handled ethically by Propam," said Michael.

He confirmed that there were four police officers who were currently detained.

"Four members were detained this afternoon at the North Halmahera Police," he said.

However, Michael denied that if the victim was forced to apologize to the dog. According to him, the person concerned was only asked to make a testimonial video apologizing for the upload he made on social media.

"That's not true (apologize to the dog), so we asked for a testimonial video of an apology for the post," said Michael.

The case, he said, started with a demonstration at the North Halmahera Regency DPRD Office, North Maluku.

The North Halmahera Police conducted security, and from Sabhara also used sniffer dogs, which were then photographed by the victim.

After the demonstration, the victim uploaded a WhatsApp status, 'can't use hands, uses sniffer dogs'

“That post. Then that night a member visited, asked what the post meant but they didn't admit that it was the post, so they took them from home to the office. Then action was taken, ordered to squat and so on," he said.

"Then the members are told to make testimonials, the members who recorded them, to apologize for their posts. But after that he admitted that he was the one who posted it," added Michael.

Mr. Zafar Ahmad Abdul Ghani is a human rights defender and President of the Myanmar Ethnic Rohingya Human Rights Organization Malaysia (MERHROM), a non-profit organization based in Kuala Lumpur. As part of this work, Mr. Abdul Ghani advocates for the human rights of refugees and asylum seekers, combating human trafficking, and promotes the rights of the Rohingya minority, and the establishment of democracy in Myanmar. Mr. Abdul Ghani sought refuge in Malaysia in 1992 and was recognized as a refugee in 2004.

ALLEGATIONS

On 16 April 2020, the Malaysian Navy allegedly denied entry to a boat with 206 Rohingya people into Malaysia, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Following this, Mr. Abdul Ghani was contacted by local and international media for comments. On 21 April 2020, MERHROM issued a press statement in response to this incident, requesting the United Nations, ASEAN and world leaders to protect the rights of Rohingya minority and prosecute human traffickers in respective ASEAN countries. On the same day, the statement was posted on an unknown individual’s Facebook account, who allegedly urged the Malaysian Government to be stern with the Rohingya community and urged others to attack Mr. Abdul Ghani’s Facebook account. The account also reportedly stated that Mr. Abdul Ghani’s phone number was available.

On the same day, a picture of Mr. Abdul Ghani was uploaded on another unknown individual’s Facebook account, claiming that Mr. Abdul Ghani was demanding full citizenship rights for Rohingya living in Malaysia. Mr. Ghani’s social media account received almost 20,000 comments the same day, including threats and insults, including posts urging him and the Rohingya minority to leave Malaysia.

On the same day, an online petition was launched by unknown individuals, urging the Malaysian Government to send Mr. Abdul Ghani and all Rohingya minority back to Myanmar. On 22 April 2020, an open letter from Malaysian nationals was issued to MERHROM, demanding all Rohingya, including Mr. Abdul Ghani, be expelled back to Myanmar.

Since then, Mr. Abdul Ghani has reportedly received further threats and harassment, including death threats and threats of physical violence through phone calls, WhatsApp messages, SMS, Facebook and various other social media platforms. These attacks call for the killing and violent attack of Mr. Abdul Ghani, as well as for the Malaysian government to expel him and all Rohingya minority from Malaysia. Mr. Abdul Ghani’s family have also reportedly received threats and insults, with threats that they will find him, his wife and children and kill them all, and made serious threats against his mother.

On 23 April 2020, Mr. Abdul Ghani and his wife lodged a report at the Gombak police station based on the threats and harassment they had been receiving online. They were reportedly instructed to meet the Investigation Officer at Setapak police station, where they were allegedly confronted by three unknown individuals regarding Mr. Abdul Ghani’s alleged claim for Malaysian citizenship.

Mr. Abdul Ghani’s and MERHROM’s advocacy and community work has reportedly been increasingly affected following the harassment and threats against him. As a result of this harassment, he together with MERHROM’s committee members have had to cease their efforts in assisting Rohingya who have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

On 5 September 2021, Mr. Abdul Ghani reportedly received a call from an unknown individual, believed to be a Myanmar national based on his accent, who told him to be careful, as the Myanmar Military Intelligence is allegedly following him. The caller told Mr. Abdul Ghani to stay at home and not leave.

Additionally, following the death of human rights defender and Chair of the Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights (ARSPH) Mr. Mohib Ullah on 29 September 2021, in the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh, Mr. Abdul Ghani has been receiving threats on social media platforms, urging him and Rohingya refugees in Malaysia to return to Myanmar. Although Mr. Abdul Ghani’s name is not always referenced, he is referred to on social media as the “President or Rohingya Leader in Malaysia”.

On 30 September 2021, the Sinar Harian Malaysian newspaper published an article on Mr. Ullah’s assassination. The article received over 1.3k comments, reportedly mostly negative and many targeting Mr. Abdul Ghani. Allegedly, some comments included threats of violence, including that Mr. Abdul Ghani should be shot, or that he should take Mr. Ullah’s place in the refugee camp where he was assassinated.

CONCERNS

In the communication, we expressed our deep concern at the death threats, harassment and intimidation against human rights defender Mr. Abdul Ghani, which appear to be directly linked to his legitimate work as a human rights defender in Malaysia, working on the protection of the rights of refugees and asylum seekers, combating human trafficking, the rights of the Rohingya minority, and promoting the establishment of democracy in Myanmar. Furthermore, we express our concerns regarding the targeting of Mr. Abdul Ghani for the legitimate exercise of his right to freedom of opinion and expression, as well as of peaceful assembly and of association. We express further serious concerns at the threats and intimidation against Mr. Abdul Ghani’s family members as well.

We also expressed concern with regard to the online targeting of, smear campaigns and xenophobia against refugees and migrants. We are concerned that such actions heighten the vulnerability of refugees, migrants and certain minorities, given the precarity of their status, and could result in the normalisation of xenophobia and discrimination against refugees and migrants in Malaysia. As such, this could also potentially inhibit human rights defenders in Malaysia from carrying out their legitimate work regarding minority, refugee and migrant rights, due to potential retaliation.

A Vietnamese court on Friday sentenced Facebook user Bui Van Thuan to eight years in prison–under vague rules that are often used by authorities to stifle criticism–for a series of posts in which he criticized the power struggle among local officials, whom he nicknamed “the dog fighting ring.”

In his final statement during the trial, Thuan, 41, gave up his right to appeal because he said he cannot trust the judicial system in Vietnam.

“The sentence for my husband may have met the authorities’ expectations, but it is utterly unconvincing to me,” his wife, Trinh Thi Nhung, told Radio Free Asia in a text message.

“My husband did not appeal, not because he pleaded guilty or surrendered,” she wrote. “The reason is: No political prisoners have appealed successfully so far.”

The People’s Court in the northern province of Than Hoa found Thuan guilty of “disseminating anti-state materials,” under Article 117 of Vietnam’s penal code. In addition to the time in prison, Thuan must also serve five years probation.

According to the indictment, Thuan penned 27 Facebook posts with “content against the government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.”

The prosecution called 12 witnesses but only one, Le Quoc Quyen, who is a Facebook friend of Thuan and the head of Thuan’s local police station, showed up to the court.

According to the defense, the witness could not provide concrete details about the charges against Thuan. But when they requested that criminal charges be brought against the witness for false testimony, the judge denied the request.

“Sending a man to prison for eight years on the basis of a few Facebook posts indicates the government's total intolerance for any sort of criticism,” Phil Robertson, Human Rights Watch’s Deputy Asia Director, told RFA via text message.

“At this point, one wonders why the Vietnam government even bothers to send such cases to trial since the long sentences issued by these kangaroo courts are entirely predictable, and justice and rule of law in the country is a farce,” Robertson said.

According to RFA Vietnamese, Bui Van Thuan is the eighth activist sentenced on charges of conducting propaganda against the state this year. The rest were sentenced to five to eight years in prison and three to five years on probation.

A midwife who was arrested during a crackdown on healthcare workers in Mandalay late last month has died in regime custody, according to a doctor familiar with the situation.

Poe Thandar Aung, who was formerly employed at the Central Women’s Hospital in Mandalay, died on Monday night, said Dr. Soe Thura Zaw, who is taking part in the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) against military rule.

“I heard the news from three sources. We learned this morning that Ma Poe was dead,” he told Myanmar Now on Tuesday.

Poe Thandar Aung was arrested in Mandalay on October 29 along with others accused of sending medical supplies to anti-junta forces.

Also arrested were Dr. Min Zaw Oo, of the Mandalay University of Medicine’s Surgery Department, nurses Zin Mar Win and Yoon Nandar Tun, a woman named Kyi Thadar Phyu, and three employees at a bus station in Aungmyay Thazan Township.

The arrests were part of a crackdown launched after regime forces seized nearly 5 million kyat ($2,365) worth of medicine and other supplies from a truck travelling between the towns of Pale and Gangaw, west of Mandalay, on October 27.

More than a dozen people were taken into custody in the first wave of arrests, and at least 16 more have since been detained, according to CDM sources.

“Our whole country is suffering because of a general who doesn’t want to retire. Myanmar is the only country where nurses are executed for doing their jobs,” said Dr. Soe Thura Zaw, referring to junta leader Min Aung Hlaing.

Myanmar Now has been unable to reach Poe Thandar Aung’s relatives to confirm reports of her death.

On Monday, another person taking part in the CDM named Hein Zaw Nyo wrote on social media that Dr. Min Zaw Oo had also been tortured while undergoing interrogation and was vomiting blood due to the beatings he had received.

“We don’t take up arms. We only provide medical service to the people. The military is targeting the healthcare community for defying the junta,” he wrote.

Hein Zaw Nyo’s allegations could not be independently confirmed at the time of reporting.

Since seizing power in February 2021, the military has killed 58 healthcare workers and arrested more than 700, according to Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government (NUG).

The regime has also destroyed more than 50 hospitals and clinics and at least 40 ambulances, the NUG reported last month.

Media advocacy organizations decried officials’ unexplained decision to ban reporters from news outlets VOD and VOA from Prime Minister Hun Sen’s press conference following the Asean Summit on Sunday.

After four days of diplomatic meetings during the Asean Summit at Sokha Hotel — with media access limited or thwarted by technical errors — Hun Sen invited foreign and local reporters to the Peace Palace for a two-hour press conference to ask questions about the summit and Cambodia’s Asean chairmanship.

Reporters from Phnom Penh-based news outlets VOD and VOA registered with Information Ministry officials for passes to attend on Sunday. Two hours before the speech’s scheduled start, they were told that a “supervisor” would not allow access to reporters from the two outlets, according to a statement from three media advocacy organizations, including VOD’s parent organization, the Cambodian Center for Independent Media.

“We call on the ministry to explain this apparent discrimination against journalists for certain news outlets. However, we see no justifiable reason for denying any professional journalists the opportunity to openly access public officials and institutions, and report news in the public interest,” the statement said.

The reporters from VOD and VOA have been issued Information Ministry press cards — a condition also required for attending the Asean Summit.

Information Ministry spokesperson Meas Sophoan on Monday referred questions to the ministry’s general director Phos Sovann.

When asked by VOD why a reporter was banned on Sunday, Sovann responded he “wasn’t sure about this procedure.” He could not be reached on Monday.

However, Sovann defended the ban to the pro-government news outlet Khmer Times, saying that reporters from the two news outlets never attend these press conferences, and when they do they “cut only a few points” from a speech to publish.

Reporters are regularly blocked from covering speeches, said Sun Narin, a reporter for the U.S. government-funded news outlet VOA who was not allowed into Hun Sen’s speech. However, this time the event was on the international stage.

“We see that type of discrimination still happening, especially for journalists who dare to speak about social issues, which isn’t a good image for the country [that says it has] open access and freedom of information,” he said.

Pa Sokheng, a reporter for VOD Khmer who covered the entire Asean Summit, said she was disappointed to be banned from Hun Sen’s press conference, adding that this violates Cambodia’s constitutional protection of freedom of information and expression.

“Journalists aren’t an enemy to the government, and democracy requires transparency to reflect on issues and solutions,” she said. “[The government] also answers to the people through the press.”

CCIM’s media director Ith Sothoeuth noted that this ban on VOD and VOA appears to be an act of discrimination against independent media, and diminishes Cambodian citizens’ right to receive information.

“Freedom of information is a fundamental freedom that is guaranteed by the Press Law and the Cambodian Constitution. [This act] also undermines the right of the general public to access independent information,” he said.

Activists this week sought the attention of world leaders attending the Asean summit in Phnom Penh, while authorities on Saturday surrounded the home of a protester who has long campaigned for the release of her husband and other jailed opposition members.

As U.S. President Joe Biden, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern arrived in Phnom Penh to attend the Asean summit, some 20 uniformed officers and state security guards were surveilling the home of Prum Chantha, a leader of the Friday Women of Cambodia group, which has for months petitioned foreign embassies for support.

“They come to monitor me because they are afraid I will lead a protest during the arrival of President Joe Biden,” Chantha said.

Her husband Kak Komphear, a former commune councilor in Phnom Penh, was arrested in 2020 and sentenced to six years in prison on incitement and plotting charges in relation to his support for the outlawed opposition CNRP.

Uniformed district security guards were gathered 5 meters from her house in Meanchey district’s Boeng Tompun II commune beginning at 6 a.m., Chantha said. By about 5:30 p.m. several officers were still lingering outside her home, and one told her they would be there until Sunday morning.

“However, I have no plan to protest because I have been protesting for one year and [the U.S. government] already knows our issue,” she said. “Forces are only gathered at my house because I am a group leader.”

Chantha, who stayed home all day, said the surveillance restricted activists’ rights and freedom of movement.

“They are afraid our protesting will lead to a bad country image during the Asean summit,” she said.

Phin Phal, Boeng Tompun II commune police chief, acknowledged that some police and state security guards were deployed to prevent activists from disturbing public order during the summit.

“It does not matter that we have deployed to ensure security because we are afraid they will go anywhere [to protest],” he said. “I just follow the instructions of my superiors.”

Phnom Penh municipal police spokesperson San Sokseyha said during the Asean summit, authorities were focused on ensuring the safety of visiting world leaders — as well as Cambodia’s public image.

“We have focused on the security, safety and the reputation of our country,” he said, before declining to comment further.

Phnom Penh police chief Sar Thet could not be reached.

Am Sam Ath, operations director at human rights group Licadho, said his organization was monitoring police officials’ surveillance of activists, noting that it violated people’s rights and freedom of movement.

Authorities’ claims that their monitoring of activists was to ensure public order was “unreasonable,” Sam Ath said.

Mu Sochua, vice president of the dissolved opposition CNRP, posted photos of uniformed authorities outside Chantha’s house, noting that the surveillance was occurring as Biden arrived in Phnom Penh.

Sochua, a dual Cambodian-American citizen, also said on Twitter that Biden should meet with Friday Women activists as well as striking NagaWorld unionists.

On Friday, strikers outside the NagaWorld casino carried large posters calling for the Malaysian Embassy in Phnom Penh to accept their petition, after the embassy early this year declined to receive it, and urging Asean nations not to trample on rights to freedom of association like the NagaWorld CEO, a Malaysian national.

“I wear traditional clothes and carry these banners to show other countries that come to the Asean summit to help intervene and find a solution for us,” said unionist Chan Sreyroth, who worked at the casino for four years before she was fired last year.

Union members have been protesting for their jobs back for nearly a year, alleging the company behind the only licensed casino in Phnom Penh had targeted unionists in mass layoffs.

Members of advocacy group Khmer Thavrak also sought the attention of visiting world leaders, including Biden, this week.

The group began a weeklong hunger strike on Monday to call for the release of Cambodian-American lawyer Seng Theary, who has been imprisoned for nearly five months, after being sentenced to six years in prison over her opposition activism.

Hun Vannak, a Khmer Thavrak member, told CamboJA he hopes news of the group’s campaign will reach Biden and the U.S. will raise the issue of human rights during the summit.

“After a statement from the U.S. State Department [mentioning concern over Theary’s conviction], we are increasingly hopeful that President Joe Biden will discuss human rights issues related to Seng Theary and other political prisoners with [Prime Minister] Hun Sen,” Vannak said.

Their hunger strike this week was made more difficult by authorities monitoring them while they campaigned at Phnom Penh’s Freedom Park, he said. One Khmer Thavrak member was hospitalized, while another experienced stomach illness.

Vannak said he did not expect their campaign to have immediate results, but the action could raise awareness among the public and leaders from the U.S. and Asean nations.

“We do not expect the government to provide us with a solution any time soon, but what we are doing now is expected to have a positive impact in our society,” he said.

In a letter addressed to Biden and dated Wednesday, opposition Candlelight Party president Teav Vannol appealed to the U.S. president to urge the Cambodian government to “stop all kinds of political persecutions, harassments, [and] intimidations,” release “prisoners of conscience without conditions” and “revive democracy” ahead of next year’s national elections.

Thach Setha, Candlelight’s vice president, told CamboJA that party leaders had no plans to meet Biden during his visit to Cambodia, but said the U.S. should leverage its position as a world power and signatory of the 1991 Paris Peace Agreement to “uphold democracy.”

“I hope that after the Asean summit, there will be a change in the situation in our Cambodia,” Setha said.

U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters prior to Biden’s arrival on Saturday that the U.S. president was “engaging” with Hun Sen because the prime minister is the host of the Asean summit, just as Biden was meeting with the presidents of Egypt and Indonesia at summits in those countries, before and after his visit to Cambodia.

“He’s going to engage across the board in service of America’s interests and to advance America’s strategic position and our values,” the adviser said.

Sullivan said Biden will discuss with Asean leaders the “need for freedom of navigation,” a reference to the U.S. position on the South China Sea, “lawful, unimpeded commerce,” and coordination in imposing costs and raising pressure on the Myanmar junta.

Biden met with Hun Sen on Saturday afternoon and raised concerns about Ream Naval Base, underscoring the “importance of full transparency” regarding activities by the Chinese military at the base, according to a White House statement.

Both China and Cambodia have repeatedly denied U.S. claims of a secret deal between China and Cambodia that granted China’s military exclusive access to parts of the base.

Asean summit spokesperson Kung Phoak told reporters late Saturday that Cambodia had already answered questions about Ream many times.

“We never hide,” he said. “We already allowed the U.S. to visit the location.”

In June 2021, the U.S. military attaché visited Ream, but said the Cambodian military did not grant U.S. officials “full access” — a charge Cambodian officials denied.

Biden also urged Hun Sen to “reopen civic and political space” before the 2023 elections, and “called for the release of activists detained on politically motivated charges,” including Theary, the White House said.

Phoak said if political activists abuse the law, they must face consequences for their actions.

“When we talk about extending democratic space, and at the same time we allow political activists to do whatever they want, even if it is illegal, I don’t think this democracy will last forever,” he said.

“Democracy in Cambodia is moving step by step, which reflects the real situation of the country and we never go backwards. We push the democratic space more open,” he added.

During a summit speech in Phnom Penh on Saturday, the U.S. president called Asean the “heart” of his administration’s Indo-Pacific strategy, and said the U.S. was committed to Asean centrality and working with nations in the region to tackle threats against the climate, health security, the rule of law and a rule-based order, and address challenges in Myanmar and the South China Sea.

Earlier in his brief remarks, Biden mistakenly referred to Hun Sen as the prime minister of Colombia.

“I want to thank the prime minister of, from Colombia’s leadership, and as Asean chair, and for hosting all of us,” he said.

The Supreme Court on Friday upheld convictions against four human rights officials and an election body staffer — who previously worked at the same rights group — in a case related to a love scandal involving opposition leader Kem Sokha.

The five were arrested in 2016 when four Adhoc staffers, Ny Sokha, Nay Vanda, Yi Soksan and Lim Mony, assisted a woman who was accused of having a relationship with Kem Sokha. Ny Chakrya, who previously worked at Adhoc, was also involved in the case.

The five — who are known by the moniker “Adhoc 5” — were jailed and released in 2017. They were convicted in September 2018 for bribery. The woman received financial assistance from Adhoc when she approached the group because she had been summoned by the anti-terrorism police for questioning.

They were sentenced to five years in prison but had to serve suspended terms of 14 months. The Appeal Court then upheld the municipal court’s verdict in 2022.

The Supreme Court on Friday brought the case to conclusion by upholding the lower court’s verdict, with judge Nil Nonn rejecting an Appeal Court prosecutor’s demand that the five serve their entire sentences and by dismissing a motion from the defense to drop the charges.

Soeng Senkaruna, an Adhoc rights monitor, said all three levels of the judiciary could not find justice for the five defendants and said they had made a credible defense against the charges.

“It is a shame of the judicial system,” he said.

The case also ensnared Sokha and two other opposition officials who were charged for procuring prostitution for allegedly taking the woman to Bangkok, Thailand. Sokha spent months holed up at the Cambodia National Rescue Party headquarters and was convicted and pardoned in the case.

Siem Reap families set up camp on disputed land this week in protest of their former farms being used to resettle Angkor park evictees, but have left under threat from authorities, the residents said.

Authorities have this year asked around 10,000 families living within the Angkor Archaeological Park to relocate from the historical area, saying their presence could lead to the loss of Unesco world heritage status. Officials have warned residents that they would get no compensation if they didn’t agree to move.

One resettlement site designated for those families is Run Ta Ek, an area about 25 km northeast of Angkor Wat.

But last month, around 200 families near the resettlement site took issue with the plan, saying the state had taken the Run Ta Ek land away from them in 2005 without compensation. They had put up with the dispossession believing the land would be used by the state, but they could not accept their former farms simply being handed to other people, they have said.

Protester Sam Mom said the disputants had met with district officials and the Apsara Authority on Monday seeking compensation, but no agreement could be reached.

In response, about one member from each of the 200 families set up camp in Run Ta Ek that evening, Mom said.

Around 10 p.m., authorities arrived and threatened to remove them with force if they didn’t leave, he said.

“Last night we slept on our land at Run Ta Ek village, but village guards came and asked the people not to camp,” Mom said, referring to the resettlement site.

Another protester, Ran Ra, said the 200 families no longer had enough farmland. Officials were asking them for documents, including land titles, that they had never issued for them, he added.

Penh Pren, a village chief who participated in the protest, said compensation of $500-$700 per hectare had been promised in 2005, but the residents never received it.

“This is an injustice because I am the real landowner. They took my land and gave it to illegal Angkor residents. I am not happy,” Pren said.

Prasat Bakorng deputy district governor Nin Sovann denied that authorities made threats to the campers, saying they had only negotiated with them to remove their tents.

Officials would meet with the residents again on Friday to try to reach an agreement on the land, Sovann said.

A village chief in Siem Reap province has been fired after he joined a protest with around 210 families protesting the use of their former farms to resettle Angkor evictees.

Penh Pren, a village chief in Balaing commune in Prasat Bakorng district, told VOD Thursday that he was removed from his position after attempting to protest overnight at Run Ta Ek relocation site earlier this week. Run Ta Ek is located about 25 km north of the park and is one of the sites tagged for resettling around 4,000 people who are being forced out.

The village chief claimed that in 2005, the Apsara Authority — which oversees the park — had taken villagers’ farmland and promised them between $500 to 700$ in compensation per hectare. Now in 2022, villagers including him are still waiting for compensation and are outraged to see the same land promised to other people.

“I’ll tell you the truth. People were really disappointed after I was removed from my position, but for me, I’m not disappointed by those who removed me,” he said. “For the people, I am not scared, because they did nothing wrong, only those who encroach on people’s land and promised compensation for people.”

Sam Mom, a villager who joined the protest, said that Pren has always tried to protect the villagers in land disputes and that firing him was a threat to stop protesting the Apsara Authority’s decisions.

“He also has the land in the area. He tried to help people because people lost their land in Run Ta Ek and he wanted to help to get their farmland back,” Mom said.

Balaing commune chief Lem Nath said Pren was removed from the position for multiple “mistakes” dating back to when he assumed the role in 2019, accusing the village chief of taking people’s money and insulting monks and top leaders.

“He made a lot of mistakes in public service,” she said. “I received complaints from the villagers.”

After a Monday meeting with district officials about the conflict yielded no solution, one member each from about 200 families camped out at Run Ta Ek. Around 10 p.m. that night, they were ordered to leave or face removal by force.

Two NagaWorld unionists have been questioned in the Phnom Penh Municipal Court over breaking and entering, intentional damage and unlawful confinement — but they still don’t know what the casino company is accusing them of, they said.

Protesters Sok Sothavuth and Net Chakriya appeared at the court for questioning on Monday, Sothavuth in the morning and Chakriya in the afternoon, as around 40 casino protesters stood outside in support.

NagaWorld workers have protested since December over mass layoffs that they say targeted union members and leaders, facing arrest and violence over 10 months of labor action. What began as large rallies outside the Phnom Penh casino have mostly dwindled into small protests of fewer than 100 participants.

Sothavuth said she received her summons last week, and spent around 30 minutes during the morning being questioned by a prosecutor.

She was shown “evidence” of her crime from August 19 and 20: printed-out photographs showing her standing outside the NagaWorld casino building with other protesters.

“There are pictures, but nothing aside from us striking in front of Naga. It’s like a picture of us standing over there every day,” Sothavuth said.

She said the prosecutor had asked her whether she had committed each of the three charges of breaking and entering, intentional damage and illegal confinement on those days.

She had answered she did not, and was asked this repeatedly over half an hour, she said, adding that the court action would not dissuade her from continuing to protest.

“Even though I face this case, I will still keep coming until we can find a solution,” she said, referring to around 200 unionists who are seeking reinstatement from the mass layoffs. She was told she would need to wait to see if NagaCorp continues with its lawsuit, she said.

Ros Bunleng, a manager at NagaWorld, could not be reached on Monday. NagaCorp has not clarified what the court case is about.

Chakriya, who was questioned in the afternoon, said a court clerk and prosecutor questioned her in succession, but neither had presented any photos of her. They simply asked what happened on August 19, she said.

Chakriya said she had replied it was a normal protest: The strikers stood in front of NagaWorld with banners, then went home.

One more protester is set to be questioned tomorrow. At least seven in total have received summonses.

A third NagaWorld protester was questioned in court on Tuesday over alleged breaking and entering in a case that remains unclear.

Choub Sophorn said she was questioned during the afternoon at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, with a prosecutor showing her printouts of photographs of protesters outside the NagaWorld casino.

The prosecutor asked whether she had yelled at the company on August 19 and 20.

“I didn’t shout and yell. I only held a banner demanding a solution,” she said.

Workers have been protesting for 11 months following mass layoffs that they said targeted unionists.

At least seven workers have been summoned for questioning based on a complaint from NagaCorp alleging breaking and entering, intentional damage and illegal confinement. Two others were questioned on Monday, but said they were unable to get clarity on what they were accused of.

“They also asked when I want to stop striking,” Sophorn said.

Unionist Nop Tithboravy said another worker had received a summons for November 22. All of them asked for a delay on their initial summonses.

Last week, a group of activists in Nakhon Ratchasima were surrounded by police officers and prevented from protesting during the royal motorcade of Princess Sirindhorn, who was visiting a nearby school.

On Wednesday (9 November), the activist group Korat Movement went live on their Facebook page while they were holding protest signs saying “Free our friends” and “Person = person. Everyone is equal” while surrounded by a group of plainclothes police. The protest took place while Princess Sirindhorn, King Vajiralongkorn’s younger sister, was traveling to visit nearby Boonwattana School. The 15-minute video clip also showed the police trying to pull signs out of the activists’ hands.

“Paper,” a 15-year-old activist, said that the group went to the school with their protest signs, but they were followed by 2 – 3 plainclothes police who asked her and another friend to join two other members of the group waiting nearby. The officers also told them that the group would be taken to an area prepared for people to greet the Princess, but the activists told the police that they would not move.

As the royal motorcade was approaching, Paper said that the police tried to force the activists to move further away from the motorcade. Some of the activists in the group then held up their signs, and were told by the police to put them down since they have had the chance to display them. The activists refused, so the officers pulled their arms and pushed two activists, a 17-year-old and a 19-year-old, to make them put the signs down.

The activists were also initially told by the officers that one of their group members, named “Fa,” will be detained because she put up a sign saying “Going anywhere is a burden” in front of the hotel where Princess Sirindhorn was staying, but did not present a warrant or any evidence. However, the entire group was released after the royal motorcade had passed.

Paper also said that, while a member of the group was leaving their residence to run an errand, they were approached by a plainclothes officer. They were seen by another activist, who called the rest of the group. They went live on Facebook again, but were approached by a nearby traffic policeman who checked their drivers’ licenses and fined them before taking them to a nearby police station. They agreed to go to the police station and contacted a lawyer on the way there.

Once they arrived at the police station, the police tried to charge the activist accused of putting up a sign in front of the hotel with a violation of the Public Cleanliness Act, but they denied the charge. The police then made a record that the activists were brought to the police station before releasing them.

On 11 October 2022, human rights defender Kamil Ruziev’s acquittal was overruled by the Issyk-Kul Regional Court. The Court had found Kamil Ruziev guilty and fined him with 80,000 soms (916.02 Euros). The human rights defender reported that journalists covering the trial were forbidden to take photos and video recordings were prohibited both at the trial and at the halls of the Court. The human rights defender has appealed the overruling of the acquittal to the Supreme Court and he is now waiting for the date of the trial.

On 12 August 2022, human rights defender Kamil Ruziev was acquitted by the Karakol City Court, in Karakol. The human rights defender was previously wrongly accused of forging documents under Article 359, Part 2, of the Criminal Code by the State Committee for National Security (GKNB). The human rights defender stated that the Court’s decision was based on a lack of sufficient evidence. The acquittal was appealed by the prosecutor and the case was submitted to the regional court.

On 29 May 2020, human rights defender Kamil Ruziev was detained outside of a courthouse in Karakol, Kyrgyzstan. He was then interrogated and spent two days in detention, before being placed under two months’ house arrest on 31 May 2020 under charges of forgery.

Authorities in Kazakhstan have detained seven people suspected of planning to organize "riots" during this weekend's presidential election, the security service said on November 17.

"The National Security Committee, with the assistance of prosecutors, suppressed the activities of a criminal group involved in planning and organizing mass riots on November 20 of this year," the security services said in a statement.

The statement said the group was not only organizing large-scale riots but also planning to attack administrative buildings and law enforcement offices using arms and projectiles. Weapons confiscated include Kalashnikov assault rifles, sawn-off shotguns, ammunition, and materials for Molotov cocktails as well as walkie-talkies, it said.

The former Soviet republic on November 20 is set to hold a snap presidential election expected to cement incumbent President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev's grip on power months after nationwide protests against fuel prices turned violent and left more than 200 dead.

The unrest occurred in January after a peaceful demonstration in the western region of Manghystau over a fuel price hike tapped into deep-seated resentment of the country's leadership, leading to widespread antigovernment protests.

Thousands of people were detained by officials during and after the protests, which Toqaev said were caused by "20,000 terrorists" from abroad, a claim for which authorities have provided no evidence.

Human rights groups have provided evidence that peaceful demonstrators and people who had nothing to do with the protests were among those killed by law enforcement and military personnel.

Kazakh authorities in recent weeks have detained or sentenced opposition activists on various charges related to activities linked to the upcoming election.

Several opposition and rights activists have been detained across Kazakhstan as the day of an early presidential election scheduled for November 20 nears.

Police in the southwestern town of Zhanaozen on November 15 detained noted opposition activist Estai Qarashaev, who was sentenced to six days in jail several hours later on a charge of violating regulations for holding public gatherings.

Qarashaev was among oil workers who protested in 2011 to demand higher wages. Police brutally dispersed the protests, killing at least 16 people.

In the country's largest city, Almaty, on November 15, police detained Aset Abishev, a member of the founding committee of the Algha Qazaqstan (Forward, Kazakhstan) party that has been trying unsuccessfully for eight months to get registered for the election.

It is not clear why Abishev was detained. Last week, five other members of the unregistered party were detained for taking part in an unsanctioned rally in August.

Kazakh authorities have warned citizens of the Central Asian nation against holding rallies on November 20 when voting will take place in an early presidential election.

The Prosecutor-General's Office said in a statement on November 18 that "a banned group has been calling for illegal rallies and other illegal activities" on the day of the vote, adding that "those who follow such calls will face legal prosecution."

The statement did not mention the group, but a day earlier, the Committee of National Security said it detained seven people suspected of planning "riots" during the presidential election, following online calls for action by exiled former banker Mukhtar Ablyazov, his Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DVK), and the Koshe (Street) Party, which are banned in the country as extremist.

In recent days, Ablyazov has called on Kazakh citizens to hold mass protests on November 20 saying the vote is illegal as no real opposition candidates were allowed to take part in the contest against President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev in the tightly controlled country.

Meanwhile Kazakh authorities have detained dozens of opposition and human rights activists in efforts to ward off the possibility of such demonstrations.

On November 18, a court in Almaty sentenced opposition activist Aigerim Tileuzhan to two months of house arrest for her role in unprecedented anti-government protests in January that were violently dispersed by police, leaving at least 238 people, including 19 law enforcement officers, dead.

Toqaev faces five opponents whom he is expected to easily beat in the November 20 snap leadership vote where a newly introduced seven-year term is up for grabs.

While he appears to be taking the election challengers lightly -- as evidenced by the fact that he sent a representative to the only televised debate among candidates last week -- opposition activists have been piling on pressure for an explanation of his decision to invite troops from the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) to quell the January unrest, as well as his public "shoot to kill without warning" order.

The unrest occurred after a peaceful demonstration in the western region of Manghystau on January 2 over a fuel price hike tapped into deep-seated resentment of the country's leadership, leading to widespread anti-government protests.

Thousands of people were detained by officials during and after the protests, which Toqaev said were caused by "20,000 terrorists" from abroad, a claim for which authorities have provided no evidence.

Human rights groups have provided evidence that peaceful demonstrators and people who had nothing to do with the protests were among those killed by law enforcement and military personnel.

Kyrgyz investigative journalist Bolot Temirov, who was shortlisted for the Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Awards 2022 last week, says he will be unable to travel to Paris in December if he is chosen as a winner. Temirov told RFE/RL on November 13 that his passport was canceled by investigators. Although Temirov was acquitted in September of drug charges that he called politically motivated, persecutors appealed his acquittal. Temirov was arrested in January for allegedly possessing illegal drugs, which he says were planted by police.

Since taking office in July amid an unprecedented economic and political crisis, Sri Lanka’s President Ranil Wickremesinghe has suppressed anti-government protests and hounded alleged protest organizers. Among his most egregious actions has been to use the notorious Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) to detain student activists.

On Thursday, a magistrate in Colombo, the capital, ruled to keep 2 student organizers behind bars after they already spent 90 days in detention without charge. The government has produced no evidence that Wasantha Mudalige, convener of the Inter-University Students’ Federation, and Galwewa Siridhamma Thero, the convener of the Inter University Bhikku [monks’] Federation, were involved in terrorism.

The next day, police teargassed protesters in Colombo demanding the students’ release.

The PTA has been used to enable prolonged arbitrary detention and torture since it was introduced as a “temporary” measure in 1979. Often the victims are members of the minority Tamil or Muslim communities, or critics of the government. The abuse of the law was raised in parliament this week.

In August, shortly after becoming president, Wickremesinghe used his powers under the PTA to order the students’ detention. Yet when he was prime minister in 2015, he had promised to repeal the law as part of Sri Lanka’s support for a United Nations Human Rights Council resolution. He again promised to repeal it in 2017, when Sri Lanka committed to uphold its international human rights obligations in exchange for tariff-free access to the European Union under a trade arrangement called GSP+.

This March, then justice minister – now foreign minister – Ali Sabry told parliament there was a “de facto moratorium on the use of the PTA.” In July, the then-Foreign Minister G.L. Pieris gave the same assurance to the UN Human Rights Council.

Successive governments have broken these commitments time and again. Wickremesinghe should immediately release the detained students and others arbitrarily detained without trial under the PTA, as well as prisoners who were convicted based on confessions obtained under torture.

The government should introduce a genuine moratorium on the PTA, and ensure that any counterterrorism legislation that replaces it complies with the five “prerequisites” set out by UN experts to meet international human rights standards.

Sri Lanka’s international partners, including the European Union, should judge the government by its actions and hold it to its commitments.

In continuation of suppressing and detaining protesting women, sources report that the Taliban have arrested another protesting girl.

According to sources, on Thursday, November 10, the Taliban arrested Humaira Yousuf, one of the women activists in the field of human rights, who is a resident of Abdullah Khel village, Dara district of Panjshir province.

Sources add that the Taliban arrested her in the 11th district of Kabul city after several months of pursuit.

Humaira’s father is a retired general of the previous government.

According to reports, the Taliban have arrested six protesting women in less than ten days.

Sources report that Parveen Sadat, one of the female activists, has been missing since last night.

Sources claim that on Tuesday, November 15, after Parveen Sadat’s voice was published on social media concerning the Taliban’s soldiers in her residence, there is no news on her whereabouts and fate.

Some women activists argue that the disappearance of this lady is linked to the chain of arrest of women by the Taliban.

The Supreme Court, on November 10, granted journalist and human rights activist Gautam Navlakha who is one of the accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, his request for house arrest, albeit with rather stringent conditions. The bench of Justices KM Joseph and Hrishikesh Roy, during the hearings, was inclined towards granting Navlakha’s request for house arrest. While he has been ordered to be placed under house arrest now under some severely stringent restrictions, the same are applicable only until December 13 which is the next date of hearing and the court will decide whether to continue his custody in house arrest and on the same conditions, on that date.

The court noted that while chargesheet has been filed against Navlakha on October 9, 2020 no charges were yet framed against him and that he has been in custody as an undertrial prisoner since April 14, 2020. The court evaluated the medical reports but the Additional Solicitor General SV Raju pointed out that Navlakha insisted that his treatment be carried out at Jaslok Hospital where his brother-in-law is a doctor and thus his medical reports are afflicted with the vice of bias and hence the doctor recommendation merit rejection. Senior Advocate Mr. Kapil Sibal countered this contention by stating that the doctor’s recommendations have their foundation in scientific material unearthed through investigations carried out at the hospital which have been, in fact, carried out by other doctors.

In April, the Bombay High Court had denied Navlakha’s plea to be placed under house arrest while referring to Gautam Navlakha v. National Investigation Agency 2021 SCC Online SC 382 whereby the Supreme Court had laid down certain criteria for considering request of house arrest,

“151. We observe that under Section 167 in appropriate cases it will be open to courts to order house arrest. As to its employment, without being exhaustive, we may indicate criteria like age, health condition and the antecedents of the accused, the nature of crime, the need for other forms of custody and the ability to enforce the terms of the house arrest. We would also indicate under Section 309 also that judicial custody being custody ordered, subject to following the criteria, the courts will be free to employ it in deserving and suitable cases.”

The Supreme Court was ‘mystified’ as to why the High Court did not consider Navlakha’s age (70) as a basis to consider his application for house arrest. “The state of health of the petitioner also cannot be described at any rate as being perfect. Far from it, as we have noticed the multiple health issues with which the petitioner is confronted,” the court observed.

The court was also dissatisfied with the argument put by the ASG that Navlakha’s brother-in-law being the one of the doctors in his case was afflicted with the vice of bias. “Quite apart from the fact that the Doctor in question is a medical professional, his observations are based on investigations which have been carried out by the other Doctors. Therefore, they do not prima facie, at least, appeal to us as reasons for rejecting the medical report which, in fact, was based on evidence and contain inputs of the Orthopedist Dr S. Kothari,” the court said.

The court held that as far as his health is concerned, he may not be unjustified in making the request for house arrest. While considering his request, the court noted that the chargesheet was filed in 2020; charges have not yet been framed and that it is unlikely that trial will start or will make any progress towards culmination in the foreseeable future. It further noted that Navlakha has been in custody since 2020 and also that Navlakha had been placed under house arrest before and there was no complaint of his conduct then. “This means, prima facie, there does not appear to have been any case that he will misuse the facility of house arrest,” the court observed.

Conditions for house arrest

The court stated that the house arrest would be granted subject to Navlakha depositing a sum of Rs. 2.4 lakhs with Navi Mumbai Police Commissioner which is a rough estimate of expenses which would be borne by the State for making available police personnel at his house arrest location. Additionally, he shall provide local surety for Rs. 2 lakhs.

The following conditions have been laid out:

Sahba Husain alone is allowed to reside with the petitioner, along with one house keeping staff

The petitioner will not use mobile phone, internet, computer, laptop or any other communicating device while he is in house arrest

The petitioner will be permitted to use the mobile phone which may be provided by the police personnel on duty once in a day, to be used for 10 minutes only and only in the presence of police personnel.

The mobile of the companion will not have internet facility. It shall be, in other words, the basic device which facilitates only the making of a phone call and SMS.

The State is allowed to carry out surveillance and recording of the phone calls being made by the companion.

The companion shall not delete the details about phone calls or any message sent by using the SMS facility.

The petitioner will be allowed to meet only two family members once a week for 3 hours, list of whom shall be provided to the police.

CCTV cameras will be installed at the expense of the petitioner at the entrance and exit of the residence.

Before the petitioner is allowed to enter into house arrest, the house will be screened so that prior to occupying the house, no electronic gadgets such as phone, Ipad, internet, laptop are there which shall not be permitted inside even when visitors are allowed as per the order we have passed.

The petitioner is permitted to use TV which is not a smart TV or a TV which is internet based. He also will have access to newspapers.

The petitioner will not, in any manner, attempt to influence any of the witnesses in the case.

On a need basis, the police can inspect the premises and carry out search/inspection; however, such searches should not amount to abuse and should not harass the petitioner.

The petitioner is permitted to walk outside, if he wants to, in the company of police personnel, as may be found necessary, without engaging in conversation with anyone.

The petitioner can have access to one lawyer and interact with him/her as per terms of the jail manual

The petitioner will not interact with the media

The court also directed the police that in case of a medical emergency, the police will make all arrangements to make available medical facilities at the suitable hospital and the police officers will necessarily cooperate in case the petitioner needs to be taken to a hospital if such need arises.

Also, since the ASG raised doubts about the doctor at Jaslok Hospital being kin of the petitioner, the court directed that Navlakha be taken for medical examination at KEM Hospital before next hearing, to be held on December 13.

About the Human Rights Defender: Mr. Nitesh Alawa is a human rights defender who works as a patwari (revenue officer) in the village of Badi Khattal in Jobat tehsil of Alirajpur district in Madhya Pradesh. Mr. Alawa has been active in the fight for rights of Adivasis in the region and has in the past raised his voice against atrocities committed against the communities. Mr. Alawa is the district president, Alirajpur of the Madhya Pradesh Patwari Union, the Media In-charge of Tribal Employees-Officers Organization and is the district vice president of the Scheduled Caste-Scheduled Tribe Officer Employee Organization. Background of the Incident:

On July 4, 2022, an Adivasi woman was burnt alive in Guna district. The accused allegedly put diesel and set her on fire. The accused also made a video of this heinous crime.

A week before the incident, the woman’s husband said that his family had sought protection from the police, citing threats from the accused persons.

The gruesome nature of the attack was met with protests across the state. One such peaceful citizens protest was held on July 24, 2022, a Sunday, in Guna by leading Adivasi groups in the state include, the Jai Adivasi Yuva Shakti (JAYS). Mr. Nitesh Alawa at- tended this peaceful protest in solidarity with the victim and to demand justice. The protest was attended by adivasis from over 15 districts across the state.

Details of the Incident: On August 25, 2022, Mr. Alawa was suspended from duty and a departmental inquiry was started. He was given a show cause notice on August 18 to which he replied on August 24. The suspension order cited Rule 3(1), 5 (1), 6(1) of the Madhya Pradesh Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1965 and Rule 9 of the M.P. Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1966, which authorizes suspensions pending disciplinary actions.

The order stated that they had taken the action as it had come to the administration’s notice that there had been several “viral videos” circulated on social media, where Mr. Alawa has allegedly made incendiary and inflammatory speeches at the Guna meeting along with members of JAYS with an alleged attempt to create tensions among people.

Rule 3(1) of the Madhya Pradesh Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1965 states that every Government servant shall always, maintain absolute integrity, maintain devotion to duty and do nothing which is unbecoming of a Government servant. Rule 5 (1) of the Madhya Pradesh Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1965 states that no Government servant shall be a member of, or be otherwise associated with, any political party or any organisation which takes part in politics, nor shall he take part in, subscribe in aid of, or assist in any other manner, any political movement or activity. Rule 6(1) of the Madhya Pradesh Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1965 states that no Government servant shall engage himself or participate in any demonstration which is prejudicial to the interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States, public order, decency, or morality, or which involves contempt of Court, defamation or incitement to an officer. It is important to note that Mr. Alawa had taken leave from work with prior intimation to his superiors. He did not attend the protest in the capacity of any political party. The protest was not political in nature and was aimed at seeking justice for an Adivasi woman who had been burnt alive. The order also states that he had been given “prior warning” regarding his activities. HRDA-India had sent an urgent appeal to the Hon’ble NHRC on September 14, 2021 pertaining to the case of Mr. Alawa (Case No. 2849/12/26/2021). He was suspended for the exact same reason – participation in a protest. Back then the protest was regarding the brutal mass murder of Adivasis in Nemawar district in Madhya Pradesh.

Huynh Thuc Vy’s family visited her at Gia Trung Prison in Gia Lai Province on October 9. Her brother, Huynh Trong Hieu, reported that during the last five minutes of the visit, when Vy was allowed to hug her children, she whispered to her six-year-old daughter that she had been “beaten and choked by the neck.” Hieu also said that at the last visit on August 10, Vy slammed the phone on the floor after being told she could not hug her children, but she later said she was not disciplined for it. Hieu said Vy might have been targeted by officials for helping other prisoners, sharing her food with them, giving their families’ phone numbers to Hieu so he could update them about their imprisoned loved ones.

Mrs Vy is serving 33 month-jail in Gia Trung prison, Gia Lai province, for desecrating the flag of communist Vietnam.

In Sept 2022, after a prison visit, her 6-year-old daughter told her family that Mrs Vy said she had been beaten by a prison officer.

Her family lodged a written request to the Police in charge of Prison (C10 unit), Gia Lai public prosecutor office and Gia Trung prison , demanding an investigation into this.

In a face-to-face meeting with prison authorities on Wed (9 Nov), including Mrs Vy and her brother Huynh Trong Hieu, Mr Hieu was told the real story. He relayed it to RFA Viet:

(main points)

· Ms Vy was not assaulted by the prison officer, but by three criminal prisoners, in front of prison officers.

· In the meeting [on 9 Nov], Ms Vy said that on 2 Oct, a female criminal prisoner named Le Thi Huyen Anh slapped her twice in her face at the prison kitchen, because she didn't wear prison uniform. She told prison officers about this, the prison took no action. On her way back to her cell, this criminal prisoner again, out of the blue, struck her at her nape, when she fell down, that prisoner strangled her.

· In another meeting between Mrs Vy and prisoner Huyen Anh to resolve conflicts, in the presence of 5 prison officers, two additional prisoners were present. One was a female criminal prisoner named Pham Thi Chien who suddenly lunged at her and strangled her, and another prisoner threatened to use a chair to bash her. The prison officers present took no action at what was happening.

· Mr Hieu told RFA Viet, both him and Mrs Vy didn't understand why these two additional were present at the meeting to resolve the conflict between Mrs Vy and prisoner Huyen Anh.

· Mrs Vy also accused that, for over a month now, another prisoner threatened her that she 'won't be alive to return home'.

· About a week after 2 Oct, the prison organised a denunciation session, where Mrs Vy was denounced for 'offending prison officers and other prisoners'; prison officers asked other prisoners to give suggestions how to deal with Mrs Vy. The prison didn't take any action against prisoners who assaulted Mrs Vy, and had no plan to protect her.

· In another working session with prison officers, Mrs Vy was pressured by Mr Pham Tat Trung - representative of Gia Trung prison inspectors - and Mr Dang Ngoc Son - representative of prison officers, to withdraw her complaint against prisoner Le Thi Huyen Anh who slapped her and strangled her.

Having been assaulted and threatened, Mrs Vy became physically ill and mentally exhausted.

In the meeting on 9 Nov where both Mrs Vy and her brother Hieu were present, the prison asked both of them to sign a report, to correct the information regarding Mrs Vy was assaulted by prisoner Huyen Anh; the prison didn't say anything about protecting Mrs Vy's safety.

From the information he gathered so far, Mr Hieu suspected that the prison is plotting to harm Mrs Vy - using other criminal prisoners in their scheme.

Mr Hieu calls on rights organisations to please voice their concern about Mrs Vy's situation, to give her timely protection and save her life.

Mrs Vy is among founders of the independent Vietnamese Women's Association.

Human Rights Watch awarded her and her father the Hellman/Hammet prize in 2012 for their efforts to promote human rights in Vietnam.

Vietnam's laws allow prisoners with young children under 3 years to postpone serving their sentence. However, Mrs Vy was forced to serve her sentence on 30 Nov 2021, even though at that time her youngest child was under 3 years old.

Political prisoner Dang Dinh Bach‘s wife, Tran Phuong Thao, updated The 88 Project after a recent visit and phone call with Bach.

He has been transferred to a new prison; his wife did not find out until she went to the old prison to visit him. Political prisoners and their families commonly face this practice in Vietnam.

Bach is serving five years in prison on charges of “tax evasion.” In August, a court upheld the sentence.

---

Update, November 2, 2022:

On October 16, Dang Dinh Bach’s wife, Tran Phuong Thao, visited Hanoi Detention Center No. 1 and found out that Bach was transferred to Prison No 6 in Nghe An Province on October 14.

Prison No. 6 is 300 km away from Hanoi, so Bach’s family (Thao, Bach’s father-in-law, Bach’s brother-in-law, and Bach’s sister) departed on October 19 at 4 am so that they could register to meet with Bach within the day. According to Thao, the prison authorities made it difficult for the family to find out in which area of the prison Bach was held. It wasn’t until 10:30 am that they were able to register to meet with Bach. The family finally met with him in person at 4 pm. Only Thao and Bach’s sister were allowed to see Bach. Even though Bach’s father-in-law and brother-in-law prepared all of the required documents to submit to the prison authorities for the visit, they were denied.

Bach is reported to be pretty healthy. Thao told The 88 Project that she did ask Bach about the living conditions at Prison No 6., but Bach did not answer her question. “Perhaps they reminded him not to say anything about it,” Thao said. She also shared that she had sent warm clothes, necessities, and books for him.

On October 27, Bach called home for 10 minutes, asking Thao to continue her international advocacy for him, as he is innocent. He told his wife that he had not received any books, while Thao told him that she has not received the letter he sent.

In an interview, sources confirmed Thursday that Farhat Popalzai was arrested by the Taliban six days after the arrest of Zarifa Yaqoobi along with her four other colleagues.

According to sources, the Taliban fighters have taken Popalzai with her father to one of the security areas of Kabul and arrested her after checking her cell phone.

The Taliban have not yet provided details on the matter.

Zarifa Yaqoobi, a women’s rights activist, was arrested in Kabul last Thursday, and still, her hideout along with her four colleagues is not yet clear.

On 8 November 2022, Sri Lankan journalist, media rights campaigner and human rights defender Tharindu Jayawardhana received a call asking him to appear at the Criminal Investigation De- partment (CID) in Colombo for an inquiry on 14 November 2022. The human rights defender was informed that the inquiry is based on a complaint filed by the Inspector General of Police (IGP) re - garding a Facebook post published by him on 17 October 2022. Tharindu Jayawardhana is a respected investigative journalist and a dedicated human rights de- fender. He is the president of the Sri Lanka Young Journalist Association (SLYJA) and the chief ed- itor of MediaLK, an investigative news website. He also works as a researcher at the Centre for Society and Religion(CSR). As a journalist and human rights defender, Tharindu Jayawardhana has been an advocate for the rights of oppressed and vulnerable communities and against state vi- olence. On 8 November 2022, Tharindu Jayawardhana received summons via a phone call from a police officer requesting him to appear at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) for an inquiry, on 9 November 2022. Tharindu Jayawardhana expressed he could not be present on that day and agreed to appear at 9.30am on 14 November 2022. The human rights defender was informed that the inquiry was based on a complaint filed by the IGP regarding a Facebook post published by him on 17 October 2022. The post included images of police officers using disproportionate force and disrupting peaceful protesters in Colombo on 9 October 2022 and sought public assistance to iden- tify and report officers. Similar summons was issued to journalist/human rights defender Tharindu Uduwaragedara linked to the same Facebook post. Tharindu Jayawardhana was targeted several times in the past for his human rights work and re- porting. In June 2021, he received a death threat via Facebook from Senior Deputy Inspector Gen- eral of Police Deshabandu Tennakoon. Over a year later, on 9 August 2022, the human rights de- fender was summoned to the CID Head Quarters in Colombo to make a statement regarding the death threats made against him by Senior DIG Deshabandu Thennakoon. Tharindu Jayawardhana has exposed police torture, and torture chambers such as in the ‘Ko- tadeniyawa case’ in October 2015, used by the Kotadeniyawa police against citizens. Since the in- ception of protests in 2022 linked to the economic crisis, Tharindu Jayawardhana has been report- ing on peaceful protests, disproportionate use of force by police and reprisals against protesters. He has used his social media accounts to challenge disinformation against protesters and expose state violence. He is a key campaigner against the ongoing detention of student leaders Wasantha Mudalige and Siridhamma Thero under the Draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act in 2022 linked to their role in the protests. In September 2022, Tharindhu Jayawardhana used the Right to Informa- tion (RTI) act to seek information regarding the alleged use of expired tear gas by the Sri Lankan police used against protesters. Despite interventions by the RTI commission, the police denied pro- viding information citing national security and integrity.

On 7 November 2022, police officers from the Welikada police station visited journalist and human rights defender Tharindu Uduwaragedara’s residence in Colombo. Police handed over a summons for the defender to appear at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) at Colombo 01 for interrogation on 8 November 2022. The defender was informed that the inquiry/interrogation is based on a complaint filed by the Inspector General of Police based on a Facebook post published by the defender on 17 October 2022. The post includes images of police officers using disproportionate force and disrupting peaceful protesters during a protest in Colombo on 9 October 2022. In his post the defender sought public assistance to identify and report officers who had behaved in an unruly, illegal and disruptive fashion towards peaceful protesters.

Tharindu Uduwaragedara is a well known journalist, human rights defender and convener of the Sri Lanka Young Journalists Association. He has been active in reporting and documenting the ongoing protests in Sri Lanka linked to the economic crisis, and exposing police abuse against peaceful protesters. He has been targeted on several occasions and summoned for interrogation repeatedly due to his journalism and human rights work.

Front Line Defenders condemns attempts to threaten and intimidate Tharindu Uduwaragedara by Sri Lanka police as reprisal for his work. We call on Sri Lankan authorities to cease persecution of journalists and human rights defenders engaging in their legitimate work and create an environment that protects human rights activists.

On 8 November 2022, human rights defender and journalist Tharindu Uduwaragedara was questioned by the Cyber Crimes Investigation Division (CCID) for nearly 3 hours at the Criminal Investigation Department in Colombo.

The CCID officer told the human rights defender that he was summoned to record a statement based on a complaint lodged by the Inspector General of Police on 27 October 2022 regarding a Facebook post. The post includes images of police officers using disproportionate force and disrupting peaceful protesters during a protest in Colombo on 9 October 2022. The officer asked the human rights defender for personal details, information on the revenue made through his YouTube Channel, more specifically about the Sri Lanka Young Journalist Association and their activities. The officer also questioned the intention behind Tharindu Uduwaragedara’s Facebook post and mentioned that it may pose a threat to the safety of the police officers that were identified in the post. Tharindu Uduwaragedara responded by saying that it was his journalistic duty to point out the unruly behavior of the police officers towards peaceful demonstrators, and that there were no ulterior motive behind his post. He also pointed out the statements issued by the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL), where it has been stated that the Police Ordinance should not be used to violate the Constitution’s fundamental rights. The human rights defender was not informed of further proceedings in the investigation against him.

On November 7, North Sulawesi police harassed and arrested Sulawesian reporter Noufriadi Sururama while he was at a land dispute protest in Mandolang. Police officers asked for Sururama’s identity card, but according to reports did not respect his press card. Law enforcement apprehended the journalist, tearing his shirt in the process. Sururama was detained and taken to the Manado Precinct Police office.

In 2017, the Indonesian Press Council signed a memorandum of understanding with the National Police, agreeing to decriminalise journalistic practice and respect press freedom. Under the Indonesian Press Law, disputes over news reporting must be settled through a press council mechanism, which includes the right to reply and corrections.

Students of Far Eastern University (FEU), along with other university belt schools, staged a protest last November 4 to condemn the FEU administration for the possible dismissal of three Tamaraw students.

The three students are facing charges after they participated in a September 21 protest commemorating the 50th year since the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. declared Martial Law.

In an interview with Bulatlat, one of the students, Romarie Relator, 20, a first year nursing student narrated the timeline of events about the issue.

Timeline of Events

Relator said various groups in the university made plans and initiatives for the Martial Law commemoration, including a massive callout to join a silent protest in the university pavilion with participants wearing black.

At precisely 12 noon, during breaktime, many students joined the Sept. 21 protest, which lasted for only two to three minutes. This was followed by a short discussion about the atrocities committed during the martial law years.

While the discussion was taking place, several university guards approached the students and took pictures of their discussion circles. The students then returned to their classes after the discussions.

Relator and two other students Marie Justine Keswani, 20, a second year student, and Dyan Macerin, 22, a second year education student, stayed at the pavilion since they no longer had classes. They were then “forcefully escorted” to the Office of the Student Discipline (OSD), where they were questioned by the security personnel without being informed why they were being apprehended.

Relator said OSD director Rosalie Cada ordered the three to look for the other students who joined the protest.

The university staff also confiscated the pamphlets that were distributed during the activity and attempted to take the their identification cards. When they asked why, the students were told to ask for clarifications during the Parents Committee.

They were also warned that if they do not comply with the hearing that will be conducted by the Ad Hoc Discipline Committee, together with their parents, they will not be able to enrol the following semester.

Seven days after the protest, she said that their school IDs were blocked, leaving them without access to the campus and that they missed their classes as a result. Relator, for her part, said she missed her midterm examination for her Art Appreciation class.

Macerin’s parents conference took place last Oct. 21, while Relator’s was last Nov. 3. For Keswani, the OSD has yet to schedule the conference with her parents, since they are working overseas and that the OSD insists that the parents be present during the conference.

During the conference, the students then learned that they were being charged with grave offenses stated their handbook. These are:

1. “Hazing and recruitment or membership to fraternities, sororities, or other organizations not recognized by the university,” and

2. “Acts of subversion and insurgency, such as unauthorized demonstrations, rallies and boycotting of classes, including use of class hours or classrooms to encourage students to join in subversive acts or insurgency.”

Relator said they tried to negotiate the OSD’s decision, and that they be at least allowed to finish the first semester. They were told, however, that the handbook is “black and white” and that their appeal will not be granted. They were also advised to voluntarily withdraw from the university to still be able to obtain a good morale certificate instead of their respective records be marred with the alleged offenses.

Calls to drop the charges

Relator said their silent and short protest was only meant to remember the atrocities during Martial Law of Marcos Sr. and that this is very much relevant with the dictator’s son now seating as president.

“We protested in order to forward our calls during the Martial Law commemoration but the FEU’s actions resulted in trampling our freedom of expression and the people’s rights to organize,” Relator said.

This, she added, will result in a chilling effect among her fellow students.

Various progressive youth groups came to the defense of the three students, expressing their disappointment over the “lack of action on the grievances of the student body, which encompasses the students’ right to quality education and democratic rights.”

“FEU labeling the Martial Law Commemoration protest as ‘acts of subversion and insurgency’ is no different from the NTF-ELCAC’s massive spate of red-tagging and harassment conducted against those who fight for historical truth and justice,” said Justine Keswani, spokesperson of Anakbayan Morayta.

The intercollegiate alliance of student publications in the Asia-Pacific, the College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP), meanwhile said that the university that claims to champion fortitude, excellence, and uprightness should be the same university for a safe haven of discourse and pillars of critical thinking.

The groups called on the FEU administration to drop the charges against the three students, saying that “as our nation faces a severe education crisis, FEU must channel its energy in putting primacy on giving quality education and heeding the demands of the students.”

What happens next?

According to Relator, the OSD said they will forward the case to the Student Conduct Committee, consisting of seven representatives from the university. However, she also reiterated that during the time when their case was deliberated, no student conduct committee was formed.

The three students are now talking to a lawyer for possible legal action.

Bulatlat has reached out to the FEU administration for comments. As of this writing, the university has not yet replied.

The New Crossroads of the North (TNCN), the official student publication of the University of Caloocan City (UCC) – North Campus, suspended the online operations of its original page on October 29, following the decision of the university administration.

In their last online broadcast, they answered the questions behind the inactivity of the student publication for two months, underscoring that the closure of their social media platform was a decision of the administration to “streamline information” in one page.

The page the administration sought to utilize is the UCC The New Crossroads, the student publication of UCC – South Campus with a different set of editorial board and staffers.

Chris Agustin, a fourth-year Communication student and current editor-in-chief of the TNCN, said that the two publications are different.

“TNC of the North is progressive, critical, and pro-student. We ensure local, and national issues are discussed in our newsroom. The New Crossroads, however, remains stagnant and sometimes practices PR coverage,” Agustin said.

Asserting editorial independence

Upon hearing of the suspension of their original online page, Agustin faced the university administration and Caloocan City Mayor Dale “Along” Malapitan to appeal for reconsideration.

He asked for the formal memorandum of the decision, but the Vice President for Academic Affairs has yet to present a document as of this writing. The decision was only verbally communicated to the staffers last August.

“They said that we have to ‘fix’ our way of writing and the stories should be devoid of ‘personal attacks’ to any individual or politician. The administration also said that the editorial process should involve them,” Agustin said.

This attempt of the university’s administration to interfere pushed Agustin to continuously assert editorial independence.

A compromise was made wherein TNCN was made to promise to uphold responsible journalism, which they said they have been practicing since its establishment.

TNCN’s editorial board, however, continues to question the school administration’s decision to suspend their online page.

“I think there is a looming threat in merging two publications into one platform–it is easier for the administration to control or manage the stories that we are releasing, which may limit our coverage,” Agustin added.

He vows to continue their uncompromised reportage in TNCN with their migration to a new social media platform. They plan to communicate their values effectively and assert that publishing their stories are part of their fundamental rights and freedoms.

Challenges inside and outside the university

Agustin said that they started their online page during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the goal of informing students of UCC North campus.

“The publication started because there is a need for local coverage in the university and an agenda shift to bridge campus, local, and national issues for the students. It’s an initiative born out of student volunteerism,” the staff of TNCN explained in their last online broadcast.

However, their honest intentions and responsible newsmaking came into conflict with the University administration and some individuals.

They were also red-tagged for covering grassroots actions and socially relevant topics.

In addition, the publication faced other problems like lack of resources, funding, and technical support, primarily because of the non-collection of subscription fees because of the pandemic, explained Agustin.

This, however, did not stop TNCN from publishing stories of social relevance such as the opposition to the Anti-Terror Law.

Braving the crisis

In their online broadcast, TNCN took pride in its achievements such as launching different projects with Rappler’s civic engagement arm, MovePH, to combat disinformation and misinformation campaigns during the pandemic, and pre- and post-election.

They were also able to successfully network with other student publications through the College Editors Guild of the Philippines especially in promoting genuine campus press freedom.

They also started the Katigan Chronicles, the first online broadcast platform of their University, which they hope to continue in the new platform.

“We remain committed to serving the students with critical journalism. We hope the students and our fellow student journalists will continue to support us because the fight is not yet over. At the end of the day, the truth will prevail,” Agustin ended.

Christine Marie Vidaya, community leader of Pinagkaisang Lakas ng Mamamayan (PLM) in Payatas Quezon City was traumatized after she and other members of their group were presented to the public as New People’s Army (NPA) returnees.

She said a former coordinator of PLM told her that they can get aid if they will “surrender.” Last Sept. 12, at around 8:00 a.m., Vidaya and 19 others were fetched from their community and were brought to Caloocan where they were supposed to get aid.

“When we got into the venue in Caloocan, a (police) chief was already there. There were also soldiers and other people, including the media. I was wondering that if we’re only going to get aid (a food pack and rice) why all the fuss?” Vidaya said in Filipino.

She said they had no idea what was going on until they were presented as NPA returnees.

Vidaya said they cannot do anything at that moment.

“We did not know what to do. We did not know what would happen if we didn’t sign the document they made us sign. Would they allow us to leave?” she added.

As a result, Vidaya had been anxious not only for her safety but also for her family and their members. For a week, she said, she had been crying thinking that what had happened has ruined her reputation. “It was really humiliating,” she said.

Vidaya was one of the speakers at the launching of Citizens Rights Watch Network (CWRN) last Nov. 5 at the Commission on Human Rights. The CWRN is a network of individuals and organizations aimed at mobilizing support for Filipinos whose democratic, civil and political rights are under attack.

Vidaya denied that they were members of the NPA. She said she cannot understand why they are being alleged as such. “We only fight for our rights. If only the government is giving us what we need we would not complain,” she said.

Lean Porquia, lead convenor of CRWN, said in a statement that communities and sectors are “being red-tagged for calling out for legitimate demands—just wages and decent jobs, aid, housing, and other social services.”

“Filipinos are being intimidated into silence, especially by the NTF-ELCAC (National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict) and their cohorts. But we say no more,” Porquia said. Porquia is the son of slain Iloilo activist Jory Porquia.

Porquia himself was repeatedly red-tagged by the NTF-ELCAC.

In its manifesto of unity, the network said they gathered together in defense of communities and even virtual spaces in the exercise of their rights and liberties.

“We gather to put a stop to repeated attempts by the NTF-ELCAC and other state agencies to sow terror, confusion, and intimidate our people into silence and inaction. We gather to stand as one with the people in their struggles for democracy, social justice and genuine peace,” the manifesto read.

During the launch, different individuals spoke about their experiences of being linked with the revolutionary groups. Also present to tell their stories were Kilusang Mayo Uno’s international officer Kara Taggaoa; Gabriela’s Ruth Manglalan, whose partner, Elizabeth “Loi” Magbanua is still missing; Rey Valmores, chairperson of LGBTQI group, Bahaghari, and Karapatan Southern Tagalog Interim Officer; and United Church of Christ in the Philippines pastor, Rev. Edwin Egar.

Egar shared that he was visited twice by members of the 59th Infantry Battalion on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1. He was told by the soldiers to surrender because he is a “supporter.”

“I asked them who I was supporting. They said they got a document in the Bondoc Peninsula and they suspect that the NPAs are using me. I told them I cannot surrender because why would I surrender?” he said.

Egar also said they received information on Nov. 2 that the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police will have a “one time, big time” operation similar to what happened on March 7, 2021, infamously dubbed as Bloody Sunday.

Egar said that there is a climate of fear because of what is happening in Southern Tagalog. That is why, he said, such gatherings will give the people the courage to fight back.

Vidaya said that she has explained to their members that there is no truth to the allegation against them.

“What we have are only placards bearing our calls to the government,” she said.

Lawyer Minerva Lopez of the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) reiterated the importance of being united against those who violate the rights of the people.

“If we don’t fight together, nothing will happen,” she said.

Lopez said she believes that one day, perpetrators will be held accountable.

The CRWN convenors and participating organizations include Bishop Gerardo Alminaza of the Diocese of San Carlos, Fr. Rudy Abao, MSC, Atty. Josh Quising of Alternative Law Group, Karl Suyat of Project Gunita, Sr. Eleanor Llanes, ICM, UP Professor Cynthia Zayas, former political detainee Pol Viuya, Director Kip Oebanda, and the Far Eastern University Legal Aid Bureau, among others.

The network plans to hold community-based human rights training and seminars, stakeholder meetings and dialogues, legal consultations and actions, fact finding and humanitarian missions, information and advocacy campaigns, community mobilizations, and lobbying.

They also called on other freedom-loving citizens, organizations, and institutions to join the network.

Journalist and RTI activist Raghunath Sah was misbehaved for his reporting on November 7 in Rautahat. Rautahat lies in Madhesh Province of Nepal.

Sah informed Freedom Forum that he had published a news about corruption in Gadhimai Municipality, Rautahat on https://www.newsdailynp.com/ and shared related posts on his social media pages. The news quotes minutes of the municipality's executive meeting which states that due to unsatisfactory performance of the finance officer Rameshwor Sahani, he couldnot continue his job from July 17, 2022. The news claims that Sahani has been involved in different financial activities at the municipality after the decision.

After the new was published, Sahani and his people started to call Sah and threaten him to remove the news from the online. Few people also misbehaved with Sah for publishing news.

Freedom Forum condemns the misbehaviour meted out to journalist for his reporting. It is sheer violation of press freedom. The concerned is urged to file complaint at the Press Council Nepal for any discontent over the news and follow the legitimate process.

The Bishkek City Court has rejected appeals by several politicians and activists against their two-month pretrial detention on charges of planning mass disorder over the government’s border demarcation agreement with neighboring Uzbekistan.

More than 20 men and women were detained in late October after they protested against the deal, according to which Kyrgyzstan will hand over the territory of the Kempir-Abad water reservoir covering 4,485 hectares to Uzbekistan in exchange for over 19,000 hectares elsewhere.

Those detained include the former Kyrgyz ambassador to Malaysia, Azimbek Beknazarov, former lawmaker Asia Sasykbaeva, well-known politicians Kanat Isaev, Jenis Moldokmatov, and Ravshan Jeenbekov, human rights defender Rita Karasartova, and other noted public figures and activists.

On November 9, the court upheld the pretrial detentions of former Central Election Commission member Gulnara Jurabaeva, politician Perizat Suranova, former regional Governor Aibek Buzurmankulov, the former chief of the State Committee of National Security, Kengeshbek Duishobaev, and activists Taalai Mademinov, Atai Beishebek, and Ali Shabdan, who originally had been remanded in pretrial detention until at least December 20.

Appeals filed by other detained politicians and activists will be considered by the court in the coming days.

In a statement on October 25, Human Rights Watch urged the government of the Central Asian nation to immediately release the politicians and activists, and to publish all of the details of the deal on the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border demarcation.

The Kempir-Abad reservoir, which was built in 1983, is located in the fertile Ferghana Valley and represents a vital regional water source. Uzbekistan, whose population of 35 million is five times larger than that of Kyrgyzstan, uses the majority of the water.

The two Central Asian countries share a border that is more than 1,300-kilometers long.

Many Kyrgyz civil activists, opposition politicians, and residents living close to the dam are against the deal.

They say Uzbekistan could continue using the dam's water, but the reservoir's land should remain within Kyrgyzstan's border.

Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov and his allies claim the deal benefits Kyrgyzstan and that Kyrgyz farmers will still have access to the water.

Last week, Uzbek Foreign Minister Vladimir Norov and his Kyrgyz counterpart, Jeenbek Kulubaev, signed a number of documents on border delimitation in Bishkek, including the agreement on jointly managing the Kempir-Abad water reservoir.

On 11 November 2022, Bishkek City Court rejected the appeal to change the interim measure from detention to house arrest for woman human rights defenders Klara Sooronkulova and Asya Sasykbayeva. The same occurred on 10 November 2022 for woman human rights defender Rita Karasartova, and on 9 November 2022 for woman human rights defender Gulnara Dzhurabayeva. Klara Sooronkulova is a woman human rights defenders, chairwoman of the NGO “School of Law” and a chairwoman of the Committee to Protect Political Prisoners. WHRD carries out out systematic monitoring of trials of political prisoners, work on the issues of freedom of speech, judicial reforms, and corruption. She vocally opposed laws on social media censorship and the Russia copy-cat foreign agents law. Rita Karasartova is a woman human rights defender and an expert in civic governance. She works for the Institute of Civic Analysis, a human rights organization and a think tank. The organization works to monitor the selection and rotation process within the Kyrgyzstani judiciary system. The woman human rights defender also supports provides independent legal expertese to the local participatory governments. Rita Karasartova is one of the first women human rights defenders, who started publically covering issues within in the law enforcement and judiciary systems in Kyrgyz language. Gulnara Jurabayeva is a woman human rights defender, who collaborated with “Interbilim” since 2020, and Asya Sasykbayeva is a founder and ex-head of human rights organization “Interbilim.” Interbilim is an organization that is set out to promote the creation and effective functioning of democratic institutions, ensuring democratic governance, and transparency of the state system through the mechanisms of public examination and monitoring of the activities of state bodies. The women human rights defenders appealed the decision of the Pervomayskii District Court of the City of Bishkek on 25 October 2022 to detain them for 2 months for their peaceful protest against the transferring the ownership of the Kempir-Abad water reserve from Kyrgyzstan to Uzbekistan. Klara Sooronkulova, Asya Sasykbayeva, Rita Karasartova, and Gulnara Dzhurabayeva will remain in detention until 20 December 2022. The women human rights defenders are being accused of conspiring to organize mass riots, a criminal offense envisioned by Article 36-278 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan. If charged, the women human rights defenders can face up to 10 years of prison time. The Court refused to take into account that two women human rights defenders have young children and two women human rights defenders are over 60 years old. Some of their colleagues, who are detained in Temporary Isolation Ward #1 of the City of Bishkek, report that the detention conditions are very poor and the incarceration units lack proper heating. On 24 October 2022, Kyrgyzstani law enforcement officers arbitrary arrested and detained women human rights defenders Gulnara Dzhurabayeva, Klara Sooronkulova, Rita Karasartova, and Asya Sasykbayeva for their peaceful protest against the tranferring the ownership of the Kempir-Abad water reserve from Kyrgyzstan to Uzbekistan. They were among 24 other activists and representatives of political parties, who peacefully opposed the transferring of the Kempir-Abad water reserve to Uzbekistan, stating that Kempir-Abad is an important source of pottable water for the local comunities, and that the transfering of the reservoir to Uzbekistan will affect local farmers who will be forcefully displaced in Uzbekistan. On 22 October 2022, human rights defenders, local activists, journalists, and political actors established a Committee to protect the Kempir-Abad in opposing the transfering of the water reservoir from Kyrgyzstan to Uzbekistan. The Committee was set up as a result of public convening of local communities dwelling the premises of the Kempir-Abad on 15 October 2022, where representatives of the local communities called upon the Kyrgyztani government to stop the transferring of the water reservoir and the exchange of territories between Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. On 21 October 2022, in Uzgen District of the Osh region, representatives of the local communities affected by the transferring of the Kempir-Abad reserve from villages of Kurshab and Kyzyl-Oktyabr held a peaceful march. On 23 October 2022, premises of homes of representatives of the Committee to Protect Kempir- Abad in Bishkek and Osh were raided by various Ministry of Interior authorities, and personal equipment was ceised during the raids. On 24 October 2022, twenty-four representatives of the Committee, including women human rights defenders Gulnara Dzhurabayeva, Klara Sooronkulova, Rita Karasartova, and Asya Sasykbayeva, were arbirtary detained and on 25 October 2022, sentenced to 2 months of pre-trial detention.

The former dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts, Chiang Mai University, has filed a trespassing charge against two lecturers and a student for taking over the university art centre in October 2021 after the Faculty and the university administration prohibited them from showing their final theses, some of which dealt with social and political themes.

Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) reported on Tuesday (8 November) that Faculty of Fine Arts lecturers Sorayut Aiemueayut and Thasnai Sethaseree and Faculty of Fine Arts student Yotsunthorn Ruttapradid received a summons from Phupingrajanivej Police Station for a trespassing charge filed against them by Asawinee Wanjing, then Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts.

The charge resulted from an incident in October 2021, in which students from the Media Arts and Design Department, along with several lecturers, occupied the Chiang Mai University Art Centre after 4th year students were prohibited from exhibiting their final theses in the Art Centre because some pieces addressed social and political themes.

According to a letter from the students, a request was made to use the University Art Centre to organise a thesis exhibition. In response, the Art Centre stipulated that students would have to submit information about every piece that was to be exhibited, and added that some pieces would not be allowed to be shown, as the Faculty felt that they were politically inappropriate and unfit for public exhibition.

When students submitted the additional documents, the Art Centre reportedly asked them for more information on how the pieces were to be displayed and said that pictures of each piece would need to be given to students’ project supervisors for approval. The request caused concerns that the exhibition would not be ready for the scheduled opening date on 18 October 2021.

After several failed attempts to meet with university administrators, students filed a complaint with the police on the grounds that being prohibited from showing their works could damage the pieces and their education.

On 15 October 2021, students found that water and electricity at the Media Arts and Design Department building had been cut, and that several students working inside the building had been locked inside the Faculty. All exits were locked with chains. According to the students, they were later told by university staff that electricity and water in the building were cut by order of the Faculty Dean.

On 16 October, students and lecturers cut the chains, broke through the door of the Art Centre, and occupied the University Art Centre to set up their exhibition. The exhibit ran until 23 October as scheduled. On the closing night, they burned two coffins containing pictures of the Faculty Dean and University Principle in a symbolic act of protest.

They also filed for a temporary injunction with the Chiang Mai Administrative Court, arguing that students are required to show their works in an exhibition to complete their project and received grades from their lecturers. Not being able to stage the exhibition therefore put them at risk of failing their class.

The Court ruled that university administration had to consider and decide upon the students’ request to use the Art Centre after receiving it. It also said that the administration should not have requested additional documents and evidence, and that if the original request should have been returned to the students in a timely fashion if it did not have all the required documents so that the students and their lecturers could plan accordingly.

As the students had already occupied the Art Centre, exhibited their theses, and received grades from lecturers, the Court added that there was no reason for the defendants to follow court guidelines and no need to considered the matter of compensation for the students. It then dismissed the case.

Students also filed a petition on 25 October with the Chiang Mai University Council, the House Committee on Legal Affairs, Justice, and Human Rights, and the House Committee on Education to have Asawinee and then-university principle Dr Niwet Nantajit removed from office for attempting to prohibit students from exhibiting their theses and violating their academic freedom.

In March 2021, Asawinee, along with several other faculty personnel attempted to remove students’ art projects from the Media Arts and Design Department building without first informing the students, claiming that some items constituted a possible violation of the law. The move prompted protests from students and lecturers. Students whose projects were going to be removed also filed charges of theft and destruction of property against Asawinee and faculty personnel involved, as their projects were damaged during the incident and some were missing.

Sarayut, Thasnai, and Yotsunthorn will be reporting to the police on 10 November at 13.00.

On 10 November, a scuffle broke out in front of Phupingrajanivej police station when police tried to seize a banner from students and activists who went to the station in support of 2 Chiang Mai University (CMU) lecturers and 1 CMU student being charged there. The clash left two protesters with minor injuries. Their banner carried the innocuous message “Art is short. A criminal case is long.”

The incident arose after Asawinee Wanjing, former Dean of CMU’s Faculty of Fine Arts, filed a trespassing charge against two faculty lecturers, Sorayut Aiemueayut and Thasnai Sethaseree, and a Fine Arts student, Yotsunthorn Ruttapradid.

The complaint stemmed from a confrontation in October 2021, when students and several lecturers occupied the Chiang Mai University Art Centre after 4th year students were prohibited from exhibiting their final theses because some pieces addressed social and political themes.

The clash on Thursday took place after police stopped gatherers from tying banners in front of the police station. Told that they needed official permission to do so, the participants decided to hold up their banners and stage a street performance next to the footpath instead.

When police officers tried to snatch a banner from Yotsunthorn, other protests intervened. In the ensuing scuffle, police placed one demonstrator in a chokehold.

Event participant Kanteetat Paweekornsombat reported that police officers grabbed him around his neck and assaulted him, injuring his body and face.

“I think the police used excessive force. I was only trying to get back the banner the police took. I wasn’t doing anything violent; the police were the ones who went on a rampage,” said Kanteetat.

When demonstrators sought to file an assault charge, they were told that it would have to be done later as police investigators wanted to hear charges in the scheduled case first. Occupation over censorship ends in criminal proceedings

The Art Centre was designed to exhibit students’ work. Students occupied it in October 2021 after learning that their projects would be screened to preclude the display of pieces addressing political and social themes.

According to a letter from the students, a request was made to use the University Art Centre to organise a thesis exhibition. In response, the Art Centre stipulated that students would have to submit information about every piece that was to be exhibited and added that some pieces would not be allowed to be shown, as the Faculty felt that they were politically inappropriate and unfit for public exhibition.

When students submitted the additional documents, the Art Centre reportedly asked them for more information on how the pieces were to be displayed and said that pictures of each piece would need to be given to students’ project supervisors for approval. The request caused concerns that the exhibition would not be ready for the scheduled opening date on 18 October 2021.

After several failed attempts to meet with university administrators, students filed a complaint with the police on the grounds that being prohibited from showing their works could damage the pieces and their education.

On 15 October 2021, students found that water and electricity at the Media Arts and Design Department building had been cut, and that several students working inside the building had been locked inside the Faculty. All exits were locked with chains. According to the students, they were later told by university staff that electricity and water in the building were cut by order of the Faculty Dean.

On 16 October, students and lecturers cut the chains, broke through the door of the Art Centre, and occupied the University Art Centre to set up their exhibition. The exhibit ran until 23 October as scheduled. On the closing night, they burned two coffins containing pictures of the Faculty Dean and University Principal in a symbolic act of protest.

They also filed a temporary injunction with the Chiang Mai Administrative Court, arguing that students are required to show their works in an exhibition to complete their project and receive grades from their lecturers. Not being able to stage the exhibition therefore put them at risk of failing their class.

The Court ruled that the university administration had to consider and decide upon the students’ request to use the Art Centre after receiving it. It also said that the administration should not have requested additional documents and evidence, and that the original request should have been returned to the students in a timely fashion if it did not have all the required documents so that the students and their lecturers could plan accordingly.

As the students had already occupied the Art Centre, exhibited their theses, and received grades from lecturers, the Court added that there was no reason for the defendants to follow court guidelines and no need to considered the matter of compensation for the students. It then dismissed the case.

Students also filed a petition on 25 October with the Chiang Mai University Council, the House Committee on Legal Affairs, Justice, and Human Rights, and the House Committee on Education to have Asawinee and then-university principle Dr Niwet Nantajit removed from office for attempting to prohibit students from exhibiting their theses and violating their academic freedom.

In March 2021, Asawinee, along with several other faculty personnel attempted to remove students’ art projects from the Media Arts and Design Department building without first informing the students, claiming that some items constituted a possible violation of the law. The move prompted protests from students and lecturers. Students whose projects were going to be removed also filed charges of theft and destruction of property against Asawinee and faculty personnel involved, as their projects were damaged during the incident and some were missing.

In the latest clash over land-use rights in Vietnam, police have detained seven residents in the Central Highlands for trying to prevent men from cutting down a farmer’s coffee and durian trees amid a contract dispute, residents said.

The five men had been sent to cut down the trees because the farmer, identified as Nguyen Thanh Giang, hadn’t given Thang Loi Coffee Joint Stock Co., the company he was leasing the land from, the amount of coffee beans stipulated in his contract.

Since 2019, Giang had refused to hand over any beans due to bad weather and a plunge in coffee prices. After that, a court had ordered him to pay the company nearly 5,200 kilograms (11,500 pounds) of fresh beans as rent for the 2018-19 season. The farmer filed an appeal, but the appellate court upheld the earlier decision.

In Vietnam, citizens must obtain permission from the government for use of land. If the state grants parcels of land to state-owned companies or other businesses, then local farmers are at their mercy.

Early Monday, after hearing the men sawing down the trees in the dark, neighbors helped Giang chase them away. They caught three of the men and held them near the Hoa Dong commune in Krong Dak district of Dak Lak province, a resident told RFA.

When word of the incident reached authorities in town, they sent 20 vans with up to 500 police officers to the scene to rescue the trio and arrest 25 people.

After interrogations, police released 18 and sent the remaining seven to a temporary detention center, charging them with “resisting enforcement authorities” and “illegally holding people,” state media reported.

Giang’s orchard had about 30,000 coffee trees and more than 100 durian trees, the latter of which would begin bearing fruit in 2023, the resident said. Giang later posted on his Facebook page that about two-thirds of the trees in his orchard had been chopped down.

More than 1,000 households in Hoa Dong commune now face similar situations because they all rent agricultural land. In 1998, the families bought trees on the leased land and began sharing ownership with Thang Loi Coffee which held a 51% stake, said the resident.

When Thang Loi changed its name and became a joint stock company, it forced the families who rented its land to buy company’s shares at preferential prices. But Giang and others did not purchase them because they believed the company’s move was not legal.

Disgruntles residents petitioned the President’s Office, which directed the Dak Lak People’s Committee to resolve the matter, though it has not been settled, the source said.

Hundreds of local households that have leased a total of 2,300 hectares (5,700 acres) of land from the company are at risk of losing all of their assets — coffee and durian trees, said the resident.

RFA could not reach Do Hoang Phuc, chairman of the board of directors and general director of Thang Loi Coffee Joint Stock Company, for comment. Hoang Thi Thu Ha, deputy general director in charge of sales, declined to answer questions. RFA also could not reach Krong Pak Police for comment.

An internal meeting and gathering of the management of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) and 18 LBH offices in Sanur, Bali, was forcibly disbanded by the police, Saturday (12/11).

Head of YLBHI M Isnur said the incident started at around 12.30 WITA, five people claimed that village officials/pecalang entered the villa in Sanur.

They questioned the activities and schedule for returning home and repeatedly conveyed the prohibition of carrying out any activities during the G20 presidency.

They asked YLBHI to make a statement and explanation. After that, the pecalang left the villa.

At around 17.00 WITA, dozens of police personnel who were not in uniform along with the pecalang were said to have returned to the villa and accused YLBHI of broadcasting live.

"They asked us to stop the meeting, disband the event, ask for KTPs and wanted to conduct a search to check all participants' cellphones/laptops and the event location," said Isnur.

"The request was not granted because it violates the law and human rights," he continued.

Isnur said the authorities repeatedly stated that YLBHI's activities did not have a permit from the local village and were implementing restrictions on activities in several areas.

However, YLBHI has checked that the villa area in question is not included in the restricted location.

"YLBHI staff were detained and were not allowed to leave the villa," he added.

After negotiating, around 20.00 WITA, some participants were allowed to leave. While some others have to live in a villa.

"During the trip, several unidentified people followed all of the participants' vehicles. Meanwhile, several other people watched the villa all night until early in the morning," said Isnur.

"YLBHI strongly suspects that security forces pressured village officials to come and carry out the above actions," he continued.

On Sunday (13/11) morning at around 08.00 WITA, one of the participants wanted to leave the villa because there was a flight schedule. However, it was banned by several people who claimed to be pecalang on the grounds of an officer's order.

One participant was asked to wait until 09.00 WITA, but still did not receive permission.

"After waiting for some time, finally at around 11.12 WITA the participants living in the villa were able to leave and change places," said Isnur.

YLBHI, explained Isnur, condemned all acts of terror, intimidation and arbitrary detention (depriving of independence according to Article 333 Paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code) carried out by the police. According to him, all of these actions were actually counterproductive to the government's statement that Bali was in a safe condition during the G20.

"Therefore, we urge the government, especially the police, to investigate all crimes and anti-democratic actions that occurred during the dissolution of internal meetings and YLBHI gatherings. Apart from that, we also urge that all perpetrators, both the police and other groups, be dealt with firmly," he concluded.

Since 7 November 2022, YLBHI officials have been invited and participated in other conference forums. Among them is the Asia Democracy Assembly 2022 which is being held by the Asia Democracy Network (ADN) and the South East Asia Freedom of Religion and Belief (SEA FORB) Conference in Bali.

A small group of protesters camping out at Phnom Penh’s Freedom Park say they have been told they must leave and continue their hunger strike in support of a jailed opposition activist at home.

Khmer Thavrak, an activist group that has advocated for a range of social and nationalist causes, arrived at the park on Wednesday as part of a weeklong hunger strike calling for the release of Cambodian-American lawyer and activist Seng Chan Theary.

Chan Theary is imprisoned in Preah Vihear province, serving a six-year sentence for incitement and plotting following a mass trial against opposition activists that human rights experts have denounced as politically motivated.

Khmer Thavrak’s Hun Vannak said officers had told the group​ this morning that its protest was illegal due to the need to maintain “public order” during the Asean Summit, which is scheduled to bring world leaders including U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang to Phnom Penh.

The officers told the activists that they should continue their hunger strike at home instead, Vannak said.

“We replied to them that we have two choices: one is that we request to stay here expressing our freedom — all five of us. Nothing will happen, we will just skip eating. But if they don’t agree, the other is that we would go to every embassy attending the meeting.”

The group is only drinking water, milk and Royal-D electrolytes, they said. One activist dropped out of the strike after three days.

Around 20 plainclothes officers sat nearby under a large tent. One told reporters that the activists couldn’t stay due to public order, but would not say what action authorities would take.

Russei Keo district governor Ek Khun Doeun declined to answer questions via phone, instead advising a reporter to invite the Khmer Thavrak activists to camp outside the VOD newsroom as they were “disturbing public order” at Freedom Park.

“If you are Khmer you should tell them that if they want to do a hunger strike they should go to VOD. It will be easy to do a livestream,” Khun Doeun said.

The Khmer Thavrak activists began their hunger strike in Preah Vihear on Monday, and plan to continue until the upcoming Monday.

Update 5:30 p.m.: One of the protesters, Chhoeun Daravy, said in a social media post Thursday afternoon that another of the five remaining hunger strikers was taken to hospital after fainting. “Her health couldn’t take the hunger strike for that many days. It gave her a headache and she couldn’t breathe,” Daravy wrote.

A small group of hunger strikers was down to only one activist — fasting at home — due to security concerns and exhaustion by the time their protest action ended along with the Asean Summit.

Members of activist group Khmer Thavrak, which has advocated for a range of nationalist and social issues, began the hunger strike on November 7 in support of jailed opposition member Seng Chan Theary.

Chan Theary was convicted of plotting and incitement alongside 30 others in an opposition mass trial in June, and sentenced to six years in prison. She is a Cambodian-American lawyer, and the U.S. White House named her in a statement on Saturday as American President Joe Biden visited the country for the Asean Summit. The statement called for “the release of activists detained on politically motivated charges.”

Khmer Thavrak’s Chhoeun Daravy was the last participant left when the hunger strike ended on Sunday.

The group began their action with six participants in Preah Vihear, but was down to five by the time they moved to Phnom Penh’s Freedom Park on Wednesday.

Two were taken to hospital in the coming days, and on Saturday two more left the strike.

Hun Vannak, who left on Saturday, said he was exhausted, and he had heard that police were looking for him and colleague Svay Samnang at Samnang’s house. Samnang also left on Saturday. Vannak said police were acting on purported allegations from two women he claimed he didn’t know. It was still unclear what the alleged crime was and why police did not come to the public protest at Freedom Park.

“At the end there was only Daravy. Our group got overtaxed one by one. I was exhausted too,” Vannak said.

Phnom Penh Municipal Police spokesperson San Sokseyha declined to answer questions.

Daravy added that once she was alone, she felt unsafe and continued the hunger strike at home — but authorities had still stood watch outside.

“It’s overly restrictive by authorities against people when we are exercising our fundamental freedoms. But it’s the threat we all face,” she said.

Rights group Licadho’s spokesperson Am Sam Ath agreed that surveillance at home was too much.

“Protecting public order is one thing, but monitoring them at home is too much of a threat and it’s intimidation. They shouldn’t do this. This is a suppression of the people,” Sam Ath said.

LGBTQI+ activist Gopi Shankar Madurai (ze/they) was allegedly beaten up by a group of 6-7 persons near their home in Delhi's Karol Bagh on Saturday, 11 November.

Madurai, who serves as the south regional representative of National Council for Transgender Persons (NCTP), is one of the few openly queer people in public office.

They were attacked on Saturday night, when they were turning home from a chemist shop, Madurai's friend Iniyan told The Quint. The intersex activist is currently admitted in Sir Ganga Ram Hospital with injuries on various parts of their body. What Happened?

Gopi Shankar Madurai had been walking on the road near his home in Karol Bagh when he was allegedly physically assaulted by a group of men.

"I spoke to Gopi just five minutes before this incident happened. Six people came and attacked them on the road. Some Ramakrishna devotees helped and took them to the hospital," their friend Iniyan shared.

"Gopi brother did not know any of the men," he added.

Intersex India – a forum for people from the LGBTQI+ community of which Madurai is coordinator – said that they had done two minor surgeries at the hospital, adding that a nasal surgery was avoided due to an underlying heart condition.

"The activist was beaten up by 5-6 people. He has received minor injuries. No arrests have been made yet because none of the accused been identified," DCP (Central) Shweta Chauhan told The Quint. A case has been registered by the police in connection with the incident and investigation is underway. 'Not the First Time'

"This is not the first time that Gopi has been attacked this year. In January, they were attacked in Mahabalipuram. That time also, the police did not help," Hayathi, a friend of the assaulted activist and member of Intersex India, told The Quint.

In January this year, Madurai had alleged that six unidentified persons had approached them on bikes with a political party sticker in Mahabalipuram, and had abused and manhandled them.

Iniyan further shared that Madurai had faced incidents of homophobic verbal abuse numerous times this year.

"Gopi is a representative of the NCTP, which is under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. If he being a government person isn't safe, who is?" questioned Hayathi.

"An attack of this nature against a prominent activist in the capital city is likely to have a chilling effect on future activism in the country. We are deeply concerned about the safety and security of intersex activists in India," a statement issued by Intersex Asia read.

Pritam Das, a leader of the tea workers movement and the organizer of the Rashtra Shongskar Andolon was involved in a protest demanding a daily wage of Tk 300 for the tea workers in Srimangal, Sylhet. On 27 August 2022, Pritam Das was attacked during a solidarity rally of tea workers at Chaumohana in Srimangal. On 4 September 2022, Chhatra League activist Mahbubul Alam Bhuiyan filed a case under the Digital Security Act with Srimangal Police Station against Pritam Das for allegedly „hurting religious sentiments‟. He was arrested by the police on 9 September.

At midnight on 18 August 2022, Meftahul Maruf, a student of Dhaka University, was apprehended and questioned by Chhatra League General Secretary Hasibul Hossain Shanto, who accused him of „anti-state activities and association with militant organisations‟, and for criticizing the current government in a messenger group on Facebook. Later the Provost of Freedom Fighter Ziaur Rahman Hall, Mohammad Billal Hossain, handed Maruf over to Shahbag Police Station. After detaining Maruf at the police station for 12 hours, police released him on bail in the presence of Chhatra Odhikar Parishad leaders and Dhaka University professor Ainul Islam. On the way back to the campus with Maruf, Chhatra League leaders and activists attacked the leaders and activists of Chhatra Odhikar Parishad, leaving three people injured.

Around 200 residents of Tibet’s capital Lhasa were detained in the wake of massive protests in the city last week against COVID lockdowns that left many restricted to their homes without adequate food or medical care, RFA has learned.

The Oct. 26 protest included both Han Chinese and Tibetans living in the city, and was Lhasa’s largest since a 2008 uprising, later crushed by Chinese security forces by Tibetans calling for greater freedoms under Chinese rule.

Chinese authorities have now detained around 200 Lhasa residents in the wake of last week’s protest, RFA learned from Tibetan sources speaking on condition of anonymity to protect their safety.

“Though many of these detainees are of Chinese origin, there are also a number of Tibetans coming from other parts of Tibet and from Chengdu,” one RFA source said, referring to the capital city of western China’s Sichuan province.

“They are currently being held inside buildings owned by development companies inside the Tibet Autonomous Region,” or TAR, the source added.

Also speaking to RFA, a second person said that it has been difficult so far for outside sources to identify the Tibetans currently being held. “But the main allegations against them appear to be that they took a lead role in organizing the protests. Most of them appear to be working-class residents of the city.”

“One of my friends is among those who were detained, and I have no information about what conditions are like for them now or even if they have adequate food,” the source said.

Most of the Han Chinese detained in the protest were later freed and allowed to return home, and though Tibetan detainees were told they would be freed by Oct. 29, there is no evidence that any have been released, he added.

China’s lockdown in Lhasa began in early August as COVID numbers there and throughout China began to climb. Lhasa residents have said on social media that the lockdown order came without leaving them time to prepare, with many left short of food or cut off from medical care.

As of Thursday, 18,667 Tibetans in the TAR have tested positive for COVID according to official Chinese records.

Formerly an independent nation, Tibet was invaded and incorporated into China by force more than 70 years ago. Chinese authorities maintain a tight grip on the region, restricting Tibetans’ political activities and peaceful expression of cultural and religious identity.

An ethnic Mongolian Chinese national who fled the country after his involvement in 2020 protests over a ban on Mongolian-medium teaching in schools has been released on bail by authorities in Thailand after being held by Chinese state security police in Bangkok, and remains at high risk of forced repatriation, RFA has learned.

Adiyaa, 34, who uses the Chinese name Wu Guoxing on his passport and ID card, fled China on Jan. 3, 2021, arriving in Thailand via Cambodia, after local police started following him and monitoring his movements in the wake of the language-teaching protests in the fall of 2020.

Adiyaa had obtained refugee status from the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, and was waiting for the UNHCR to arrange for him and his family to start a new life in a third country.

On the morning of Oct. 3, he was in his rented apartment when the landlord knocked on his door with an immigration official who asked to see his documents, Adiyaa told RFA following his release on bail on Wednesday.

"Then they took me, without my documents, to the immigration office and told me China had me on a wanted list for repatriation to China," he said. "I was detained in the police detention center that night."

The following day, he was taken to a Thai immigration detention center, and told on Oct. 8 that Chinese government personnel were en route to bring him back to China.

"The next day, four people were sent from the Chinese Embassy, one of whom was from the Inner Mongolia police department, [two of whom were] from the ministry of public security," Adiyaa said. "They asked me to confess to the facts of my 'crime' in China, and to fill out an application form to return to China and plead guilty."

"They were physically and verbally threatening, and asked me to read out a confession they had prepared beforehand verbatim," he said. "I told them I was a refugee registered with the United Nations and had protection, and they said [that protection] only lasted 15 months, after which the Chinese Embassy could force me to go back to China."

"I told them I didn't want to, and that I wasn't going home."

Mongolian language ban

Adiyaa said the charges against him were related to "illegal business" activities after he set up a private Mongolian-language school in Horchin Right Middle Banner, a county-like administrative division, in the wake of the ban on Mongolian-language teaching in state schools.

"The government said I was strictly prohibited from continuing to operate ... so I refunded all of the tuition fees to the students and paid all of the teachers' salaries," he said. "The investors had made an agreement to share the risk of the company not being able to operate."

Calls to Thai immigration authorities for comment went unanswered.

Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping has imposed policies on ethnic minority regions in recent years aimed at "forging a national consciousness," and the "sinicization" of religious practice, ushering in a nationwide crackdown on Muslims, Christians and Tibetan Buddhists, as well as a ban on minority languages as a teaching medium in schools.

The ban on Mongolian prompted street protests and class boycotts by students and parents across Inner Mongolia, prompting a region-wide crackdown by riot squads and state security police in the fall of 2020.

Tibetan, Uyghur and Korean-language teaching is also being phased out of schools in ethnic minority areas, local parents and teachers have told RFA.

Adiyaa told RFA he believes he was targeted because he took part in a demonstration in Hohhot, the regional capital of China's Inner Mongolia region, which borders the independent country of Mongolia.

"We took part in a demonstration outside the high school affiliated to the Inner Mongolia Normal University; all in all I and a few friends went to three or four protests," Adiyaa said. "Then, the police came and searched my home, and confiscated my mobile phone, computer and external drive ... and the state security police had me under daily surveillance, monitoring when I went out and where I was going every day."

He fled China via Cambodia with the help of a people smuggler, and spent a while in Chiang Mai with his brother and family.

But it soon became clear that Adiyaa still wasn't safe.

"In Chiang Mai, four of us – me, my brother, sister-in-law and nephew – were hit by a car driven by a Chinese plainclothes operative," he told RFA.

Under Thai law, Adiyaa's bail conditions require him to report to the police station once a week, as well as barring him from leaving Thailand, but place him at risk of kidnap and rendition by Chinese agents, he said.

The Southern Mongolian Human Rights and Information Center quoted Adiyaa's sister Turgowaa as saying that her brother holds a UNHCR refugee identification card, but had been told nonetheless that the Thai authorities are actively cooperating with the Chinese Embassy to ensure he is forcibly repatriated.

"It is all too clear that the Thai immigration bureau is ganging up with the Chinese state security authorities, disregarding the United Nations conventions on refugees and human rights," she told the group.

A prominent activist monk and four others were arrested at a monastery in Mandalay on Sunday, according to a member of a local strike committee.

The arrests were made at the May Ga Wun monastery in Mandalay’s Pyigyitagon Township, where Ven. Kalyana, a leader of an anti-regime monks’ association, was reportedly in hiding.

“I heard that they raided the monastery at around 5pm,” said the strike committee member, adding that one of the others who were arrested was detained earlier in the day.

The four youths who were also taken into custody were identified as Paing Nway Oo, Nay Ye, Hein Maung, and Kaung Khant Zaw, who is also known as Ngat.

“Ko Ngat was arrested first in the morning, and we lost contact with the others in the evening,” said the strike committee member.

According to Voice of Mandalay, a Facebook page that reports on local news, regime forces positioned at the northern and southern gates of the monastery were seen on Sunday stopping youths on motorcycles and beating one who was described as having long hair.

“I’m pretty sure the long-haired guy was Ngat,” said the strike committee member, who added that a hostel in Mandalay’s Maha Aungmyay Township was also raided at around 3am on Monday.

“Everyone’s trying to flee right now, including me. But I’m at a safe place now,” he said.

In a statement released on Sunday, the monks’ association said that Ven. Kalyana was in perfect health at the time of his arrest, and that his captors would bear full responsibility for any harm that befalls him.

On October 15, the junta raided two other monasteries in Pyigyitagon Township in a bid to capture Ven. Agga Vamsa, another prominent monk involved in the resistance movement.

Two youths, including a novice monk, were reportedly tortured in the raids on the Seittathukha and Thayetpin monasteries, but Ven. Agga Vamsa was not apprehended.

At least nine monks, including Ven. Kalyana, are currently in regime custody in Mandalay, according to activist sources.

Myanmar’s military junta has arrested more than a dozen healthcare workers since last week on suspicion of supporting anti-coup resistance groups, according to a regime statement and sources familiar with the situation.

In a statement released on Monday night, the junta said it detained several people, including a doctor, two nurses, and a midwife, during a raid on a bus station in Mandalay’s Aungmyay Thazan Township on Saturday.

A large quantity of medical supplies, which the junta accused the apprehended individuals of planning to send to members of the anti-regime People’s Defence Force (PDF), were also seized, the statement said.

The arrested healthcare workers were identified as Dr. Min Zaw Oo, of the Mandalay University of Medicine’s Surgery Department, nurses Zin Mar Win and Yoon Nandar Tun, and midwife Poe Thandar Aung.

All four were said to be taking part in a nationwide strike by healthcare workers against the regime that overthrew Myanmar’s elected civilian government in February 2021.

A woman named Kyi Thadar Phyu and three bus station employees were also detained in the raid, according to the statement, which also named more than a dozen other doctors and nurses described as being “still at large.”

The raid came two days after nearly 5 million kyat ($2,365) worth of medicine and other supplies, including an anaesthesia machine, were seized from a truck travelling on the road between the towns of Pale and Gangaw, west of Mandalay.

According to a source within Mandalay’s healthcare community, at least nine other medical workers have been arrested in the city in recent days.

One was Dr. Moe Thidar Linn, of Mandalay’s Otorhinolaryngology Specialist Hospital, who was among those the regime said in its statement were wanted by the authorities.

“I don’t want to say any more about it. It’s just sickening. I don’t think Mandalay has any more anti-regime doctors who are still free,” said the source, who declined to identify the others who were reportedly apprehended.

Employees of public hospitals were among the first civil servants to join the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) in protest over last year’s coup. Many prominent medical professionals joined the anti-regime movement, including Dr. Maung Maung Nyein Tun, a 45-year-old lecturer at Mandalay Medical University, who was arrested in June last year and who died of Covid-19 in detention about two months later.

As part of its crackdown on striking hospital employees, the regime has also revoked the licenses of medical practitioners taking part in the CDM.

Twenty-nine workers from a garment factory in Yangon’s Shwepyitha Township were fired after they organised a recent strike, sources from within their labour union told Myanmar Now.

The walkout at Myanmar Pou Chen began on October 25, with 400 employees demanding a raise from the 4,800-kyat (US$2.27) minimum daily wage to 8,000 kyat ($3.78), as well as to provide local transportation for workers, bonuses for high performance and implement other amendments to factory policy.

The factory employs some 7,800 workers and is a supplier for global sportswear brand Adidas.

Officials from Myanmar Pou Chen notified the local military authorities of the protest on the afternoon of the same day it began, prompting the arrival of 10 soldiers and police officers in four army vehicles.

“They warned us not to continue the protest the following day,” a woman who was later fired told Myanmar Now. “They threatened to arrest us if we protested outside the factory area, or if factory equipment was damaged during our protest. They said they had been wanting to detain us for a while.”

The workers continued their strike on October 26 despite the threats, as well as on October 27, by which point more than 2,000 employees had joined.

One day later, factory officials fired 26 workers, including 16 members of Myanmar Pou Chen’s labour union who were believed to have led the strike. They recorded the three days of protest as unauthorised absences from work, and a violation of their employment contracts.

“We cannot enter the factory anymore. A team leader went inside to meet the officials, and he was given his salary and a termination letter,” another woman, who was a member of the union, said. “They confiscated his employee card. He didn’t sign the termination agreement or accept the salary.”

“We asked if it was lawful or if they had the right to fire us. They replied they had made a unilateral decision, regardless of whether it was illegal,” she added.

On October 29, three more employees were dismissed—all women—another worker told Myanmar Now.

“They also walked around the factory and yelled into megaphones that further action would be taken against the protesters for damaging the factory. If they saw two workers standing together, they would shoo them away like dogs,” she said.

The terminated workers filed a complaint with the Department of Labour Relations under the military council’s Ministry of Labour.

The Taliban beat up female protestors at Badakhshan University and suppressed the demonstration.

A number of female students in Badakhshan protested on Sunday morning (October 30th) after they were prevented from entering the university campus by the Taliban.

The Taliban did not allow these students to enter Badakhshan University because they did not wear burqas and wore local clothes.

Sources added that the intelligence of the Taliban has also arrested another group of girls from the Badakhshan University dormitory who were chanting death slogans against the Taliban on the roads in Shahr-e Naw, Faizabad city.

The Taliban have already deployed more forces to prevent students from going to the university classes, according to sources.

This is while the protests of female students in Herat, Balkh, Kabul and Bamiyan were also suppressed by the Taliban and a number of students were arrested and tortured.

A number of women wanted to display their educational documents in Kabul in protest against the ban on women’s right to work.

The program was launched on Monday morning (October 31st) in Shahr-e Naw Park in Kabul.

Videotapes released by a female protester show that Taliban fighters are present in Shahr-e Naw Park, and one of them tears placards with slogans and educational documents of protesting girls and tells the protestors to leave the area.

These girls had gathered in protest against the violation of women’s right to work in Afghanistan by the Taliban.

Previously, women’s protests in different provinces have been suppressed by the Taliban.

The United Nations human rights office has voiced concern over the detention of five people after the Taliban disrupted a press conference in Kabul intended to launch a new women's movement.

One woman, Zarifa Yaqobi, and four male colleagues were arrested at the event and remained in detention on November 4, UN rights office spokesman Jeremy Laurence told reporters in Geneva.

A women's rights activists who did not want to be named due to security concerns told RFE/RL's Radio Azadi that Yaqobi was arrested after announcing the founding of the Afghan Women's Movement for Equality.

"The whole place was militarized. We thought they were going to bring us all to one place," the activist said. "First they took the boys, then they locked the women in the room."

The women were temporarily detained and subjected to phone and body searches before being released, the activist and the UN rights office said.

The activist said that later on November 3 the Taliban took Yaqobi's sister, Arifa Yaqobi, and her husband-in-law's brother under the pretext they should be with Yaqobi at night.

Laurence said the UN had received "deeply worrying reports that yesterday (November 3) afternoon in Kabul, a number of de facto security officials disrupted a press conference by a women's civil society organization."

He said the UN rights office is "concerned about the welfare of these five individuals and [has] sought information from the de facto authorities regarding their detention."

A Taliban spokesman did not immediately provide a comment, Reuters reported.

The four men detained along with Yaqobi were her brothers, a women's rights activist told AFP. The activist, who identified herself only by the name Mandegar because of security concerns, said when the news conference started the Taliban told the organizers they could not hold it and asked the journalists who were present to leave.

She said the Taliban sent in female police officers who "checked our phones and deleted all images of the event." The officers also "insulted and threatened us before they allowed us to leave one by one."

Women's freedoms in Afghanistan have been undermined since the Taliban seized power in August 2021 as international forces backing a pro-Western government pulled out. The Taliban has issued a slew of restrictions controlling women's lives, blocking girls from returning to secondary schools and barring women from many government jobs.

Fawzia Kofi, a member of Afghanistan's Moj Talaq Party, told Radio Azadi that Yaqobi was also a member of the party and her actions show that the Taliban is afraid of women.

"I expect the men of Afghanistan to stand by their sisters in this situation and not allow (the Taliban) to misrepresent religion and human rights," Kofi said.

Shukria Barakzai, the former ambassador of Afghanistan to Norway and a women's rights activist, said such actions by the Taliban will have bad consequences for the militants.

"Limiting the freedoms of Afghans, whether it is in speech or in the demands of the people, is the work of the Taliban. There is no doubt that today the Taliban consider women as their main enemies," she said.

Bishkek police detained Kyrgyz journalist Semetei Talas Uulu on November 1 on the charge of preparing and disseminating extremist materials. The journalist's lawyer, Askat Jakupbekov, told RFE/RL that his client's pretrial restrictions will be decided in 48 hours. The 41-year-old investigative journalist's detainment comes days after he covered on social networks a mass rally held on October 23 protesting the nation's deal on handing of the Kempir-Abad water reservoir to Uzbekistan in exchange for larger lands. Twenty-six politicians and activists have been detained since then.

A Bishkek court placed Kyrgyz journalist Semetei Talas-uulu under house arrest on November 3, two days after he was detained on a charge of preparing and disseminating extremist materials. Talas-uulu, who insists he is innocent, told journalists that the charge against him stems from a post he shared last year from a website close to the Hizb ut-Tahrir Islamic group, which is banned in Kyrgyzstan. The 41-year-old investigative journalist’s detainment came days after he covered a mass rally on October 23 protesting the nation's handing of a Kyrgyz-Uzbek border deal.

Kyrgyz authorities should fully and swiftly investigate a recent attack on journalist Baktursun Jorobekov and hold the perpetrators to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday.

On the evening of Wednesday, October 26, four unidentified men severely beat Jorobekov, a correspondent with the independent broadcaster Super TV, near his home in the capital Bishkek and stole his phone and wallet, according to news reports and Super TV editor-in-chief Elvira Karaeva, who spoke to CPJ by messaging app.

The attackers filmed the beating and forced Jorobekov to apologize to a man who was the subject of one of his reports before repeatedly kicking him in the head, Karaeva said. She said that Super TV is not disclosing the content of the report or the name of the subject at the request of the police who asked the broadcaster not to publicize the information while officers conduct an investigation. Karaeva said Jorobekov had previously received threats that he believed were related to the same report, but did not go into further detail.

The journalist lay unconscious in the street for almost five hours after the attack before regaining consciousness and returning home. As of Wednesday, he remains in a hospital undergoing treatment for a concussion and severe bruising to his head, she said.

“The brutal beating of journalist Baktursun Jorobekov cannot go unpunished,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, in New York. “Kyrgyz authorities must demonstrate their dedication to upholding journalists’ safety by swiftly and transparently investigating the attack on Jorobekov and holding all involved to account, including those who may have ordered the attack.”

Jorobekov told CPJ by messaging app that unidentified individuals had called him multiple times and threatened to kill him earlier this year, but was unable to respond to further questions due to his medical condition. Karaeva told CPJ that Jorobekov had stopped taking calls from the number from which the threats were issued, but the same number had repeatedly called Super TV’s editorial offices, including on the day of the attack, asking for Jorobekov.

In an interview with his employer, Jorobekov said he left home around 11:30 p.m. to go to a nearby pharmacy and was approached by four men who asked him for a cigarette. When he said he didn’t smoke, two of the men grabbed him, hit him, and took his phone and wallet.

One of the men looked through his wallet, took 3,500 som (US$42), and found a press card, saying, “Oh, you’re a journalist working at Super TV.” The same man then said, “Let’s kill him,” and three of the men repeatedly kicked the journalist in the head while the fourth filmed Jorobekov’s forced apology.

Jorobekov filed a complaint with police the following day, according to that interview; police have opened a case for theft, Karaeva told CPJ, and are awaiting medical results before opening a case for infliction of bodily harm.

Super TV broadcasts news and entertainment and is one of Kyrgyzstan’s most popular television channels, with 1.3 million subscribers on YouTube, the outlet’s director, Baktygul Sokushova told CPJ by telephone. Jorobekov covers social problems and court disputes, Sokushova said; she said that Super TV receives threats in relation to its coverage of these topics.

CPJ emailed the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kyrgyzstan for comment, but did not immediately receive a reply. CPJ called the police station where Jorobekov filed his complaint but no one with knowledge of the case was able to immediately reply.

An analysis by independent outlet Kloop found that perpetrators of physical attacks against members of the press in Kyrgyzstan were caught in only a quarter of cases between January 2015 and July 2021.

Kyrgyz authorities should immediately restore access to the bank account and website of Radio Azattyk, U.S. Congress-funded broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s local service, and cease all attempts to obstruct the outlet’s work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday.

On Monday, October 31, staff at the local offices of Turkey-based DemirBank informed Radio Azattyk that they had frozen the outlet’s account under orders of Kyrgyzstan’s State Committee for National Security (SCNS), news reports said.

Kyrgyz authorities have yet to provide any confirmation or explanation for the freeze, those reports said. However, DemirBank stated in a Facebook post and letter to Radio Azattyk on Thursday, November 3, that the account has been suspended under Article 14 of Kyrgyzstan’s law “On countering the financing of terrorist activities and the legalization (laundering) of criminal proceeds,” which allows the suspension of accounts deemed to be involved in money laundering.

The move comes after Kyrgyzstan’s ministry of culture last week ordered Radio Azattyk’s website blocked for two months under false information legislation, a decision CPJ criticized as censorship. A November 3 statement by RFE/RL described these actions as part of a series of “punitive steps” against its Kyrgyz service by authorities. Jamie Fly, RFE/RL president and CEO, called the move to freeze Radio Azattyk’s bank account an “escalation” and vowed to fight “this attempt to silence our journalists.”

“After blocking Radio Azattyk’s website, freezing the outlet’s bank account is another outrageous and apparently unlawful step taken by Kyrgyz authorities to pressure one of the country’s most important news sources. These and all other efforts to obstruct the work of Radio Azattyk must end immediately,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, in New York. “Kyrgyz authorities must stop treating the independent press like an enemy and allow Radio Azattyk and other independent outlets to work without harassment and impediment.”

Under Article 14 of the money laundering law, banks are required to block the accounts of any entities in a register where there is information of involvement in money laundering. The register is maintained by the country’s State Financial Intelligence Service (SFIS), which is under the Ministry of Finance and decides on additions to the register based on information received from government ministries and other sources, according to a government decree setting out the law’s operation.

This register is not currently available on SFIS’ website, in violation of that decree, and CPJ was unable to determine whether Radio Azattyk has been placed on it. DemirBank did not provide further information about why the account was frozen.

CPJ emailed RFE/RL for comment, but the broadcaster referred to its existing statements. CPJ’s emailed requests for further information to DemirBank, SFIS, and SCNS were not answered.

In a phone interview, Akmat Alagushev, media representative for local advocacy group Media Policy Institute, called the freeze “ridiculous,” saying it was equivalent to accusing the U.S. government, which funds Radio Azattyk, of money laundering. Alagushev said there was no point seeking a legal rationale behind the decision, as Kyrgyz authorities are simply “pursuing all possible methods to prevent Azattyk from working.”

The freeze can be appealed in the courts, but Alagushev said he expects SFIS to reverse the decision in the coming days as it has no legal basis.

CPJ emailed the ministry of culture for comment but did not immediately receive a reply.

Two activists who were attacked last week filed a petition with UN representatives on Thursday (3 November) calling for the UN to pressure the Thai authorities into investigating the attacks, after no progress was made by the police.

“Oia,” a 13-year-old protester, said that he was attacked on 22 October near the Chitralada Royal Villa. He said that while he was on a motorcycle waiting at a red light at Ratchawithi intersection, a group of men on motorcycles rode toward him and stared at him. He felt unsafe, and so rode his motorcycle towards the palace, because there were likely to be officers stationed there.

The men then surrounded him, threatened him with a knife and punched his face. Oia said he noticed that all of the men were carrying firearms. He also said that he saw police officers stationed in front of the Chitralada Royal Villa, but that they did not help him.

On 25 October, Oia went to file a complaint with Dusit Police Station over the attack.

Meanwhile, activist Tanruthai Thaenrut, 22, a member of the indigenous rights group the Save Bang Kloi Coalition, said that the clutch cable on her motorcycle was tampered with, causing an accident.

Tanruthai said that on 21 October, she met other activists at the McDonald’s next to the Democracy Monument. When she arrived, she was told by a nearby crowd control police officer to park her motorcycle inside nearby Satriwithaya School, claiming that the road had to be cleared for an upcoming royal motorcade.

Afterwards, Tanruthai said she went to retrieve her motorcycle from inside the school, and rode pillion behind another activist towards Krung Thon Bridge. While on the road, the two activists found that they could not change gear and the motorcycle was acting strangely. It then skidded, throwing the two riders onto a busy road. Tanruthai said that her head hit the ground, but she was wearing a helmet; her friend had minor cuts and bruises on their legs.

The two activists then found that the clutch cable, which Tanruthai said had been changed on 17 October, was damaged, which is probably the reason why the wheel locked, leading to the accident. It seems like there was an attempt to pull the cable out but not to cut it because then the motorcycle’s engine would not start. Tanruthai’s friend said that they went back to ask the police stationed near Satriwithaya School if anyone had gone near the motorcycle, but the officer said they did not do it.

Tanruthai speculated that the damage happened while the motorcycle was parked at Satriwithaya School, since the vehicle was functioning normally until then. She said that she has never been in conflict with anyone, and is concerned that she being targeted because of her activism, noting that the brake cable on her motorcycle was also cut two months ago, so she had to change her motorcycle and check it every time she used it.

Tunruthai and Oia, along with Save Bang Kloi Coalition activist Anchalee Ismanyee, met UN representatives on Thursday (3 November). Anchalee said that the group wanted to petition the UN to protect the two activists and to pressure the Thai authorities to make progress in both cases, especially for Oia, who is a minor and a victim of physical assault.

Anchalee said that even though there is no evidence to identity the perpetrators, she speculated that state officials may be involved, since both activists regularly join protests and have said that they have been under police surveillance.

The two activitists have also filed a complaint with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). Anchalee said that the NHRC has accepted their complaint, and has expressed concerns especially for Oia. She also said that she is concerned about the 13-year-old’s mental health.

Anchalee said following the meeting that the UN representatives said they will be contacting the NHRC to find out whether the commission has contacted the local police stations. If not, they will be following up on the case themselves.

The representatives also told the activists that, if they still feel unsafe, they can also contacted the Cross-Cultural Foundation, who would help them contact the UN office in Geneva, Switzerland. The UN may then contact the Thai authorities if there is a cause for concern.

She said that they feel safer after being able to discuss the attack with UN representatives and human rights officers, who show their concerns and paid attention to the activists' complaint.

Samyan Press, a publishing house run by Chulalongkorn University students, said last week that its staff was approached by a Chinese businessman who tried to bribe them into closing their business in order to improve the businessman’s relations with the Chinese authorities.

Founded by student activist Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal, Samyan Press publishes books about human rights, social justice, and political movements. They previously published a translation of “Taiwan is not Chinese: A History of Taiwan Nationality,” a book about Taiwan’s history and independence written by Hsueh Hua-yuan, Tai Pao-tsun and Chow Mei-li, and “The Age of Openness: China before Mao” by historian Frank Dikötter. They have also published on Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement, the Uyghur people’s human rights situation, and writings by Chinese democracy activists.

According to a statement issued by the publisher’s Board of Editors on 26 October 2022, they were contacted by a Thai private investigation agency in May 2022 via an email informing them that a Chinese businessman wanted to propose a financial offer and that the businessman wanted to create good relations with the Chinese government.

The publisher’s staff initially thought that the email was a fraud and ignored the message. However, in September 2022, Netiwit told the rest of the staff that the agency visited his house and the temple where he is currently ordained as a Buddhist monk. Staff members also received calls from the agency demanding that they urgently respond to the offer.

Samyan Press released an email from the private investigator on their Twitter account, which claims that their client wanted the staff to sign a dissolution document and close the company, but said that they may continue to work in the publishing business and publish works criticizing the Chinese government, and may re-open the company within 6 months. The email also says that the client will pay the publisher 2 million baht in exchange for the business’ closure.

After consulting with a lawyer, the staff decided to meet with a representative of the agency in person on 30 September 2022. They were told that the agency did not know who the client was and only got the job through another Chinese agency. The staff rejected the offer, and told the Thai agency that they should remove themselves from the affair.

On 2 October 2022, Samyan Press received another email, which they also released on their Twitter account. The email included a letter from the client, who claimed that they are not a member of the Chinese Communist Party and only wanted to have a good relationship with the Chinese government.

The email also says that the Chinese authorities would not have hired a private company, and that they would make the staff permanently close Sam Yan Press and stop selling books. The staff repeated their rejection, but the agency continued to try to convince them, sending another email along with a copy of the client’s passport. The staff called the agency again to reject the offer, and has not received another email from the agency since.

“Despite the incidents, we stand our ground and continue to carry on our tasks of protecting and promoting freedom of expression,” said the publisher in their Board of Editors’ statement.

“We denounce this liaison of censoring and violation of such rights. We condemn every means and measure used by the authorities to harass, intimidate and manipulate the challenges.”

According to a report published by Radio Free Asia (RFA), the businessman who was making offers to Sam Yan Press is allegedly named Huang Chengde. It also said that there have been past instances where Chinese businessmen act as “unofficial representatives” of the Chinese government, such as in 2019, when then-Swedish ambassador to China Anna Lindstedt was accused of holding unauthorized meetings with two Chinese businessmen and the daughter of detained Hong Kong bookseller Gui Minhai. The accusation led the Swedish Foreign Ministry to recall Lindstedt, and she was later charged with “arbitrariness during negotiations with a foreign power” in relation to the meeting in which she was accused of being in contact with “persons representing the interests of the Chinese state.”

RFA contacted the Chinese Embassy in Thailand for comment but did not receive a reply.

Ken Wu, vice president of the Los Angeles chapter of the Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA), told RFA that organizations that promote democracy and human rights and support anti-authoritarian movements are going to be rejected by totalitarian states like China, and that once such a state gets very powerful, it will not stop at limiting freedom of speech in their own country but will also try to eliminate any threat in other countries. He also said that the Chinese authorities are likely to fear regional, progressive publishers out of concerns that such books will find their way back to China.

The Hong Kong Democracy Council, a US-based non-profit organization working for democracy in Hong Kong, shared Sam Yan Press’ statement on their Twitter account, saying that Sam Yan Press is a “consistent supporter” of the Hong Kong pro-democracy movement and detained activist Joshua Wong, and that it “stands in solidarity” with the publisher.

About the Human Rights Defender: Mr. Kartik Mukhi, Mr. Rohit Mukhi and Mr. Krishna Mukhi are Dalit human rights defenders based in the Narwa hills in Jadugoda, East Singhbhum district. All three brothers are members of Bhim Army, an organisation fighting for the rights of lower caste groups and have been working to raise awareness on human rights and caste atrocities in the region for the past 3-4 years.

Mr. Dinkar Kachhap is the founder of Birsa Sena and has participated in struggles demanding justice for the victims of caste atrocities in East Singhbhum district.

Background of the Incident: On September 30, 2022, Ms. Geeta Beldar and Ms. Beena Beldar – both Dalit women who were working as cooks at the Shyamsundarpur Rajkiya Buniyadi Vidyalay in East Singhbhum district for 16 years – were dismissed from service by the Head Master Mr. Ashok Kumar Pal, saying that since they were lower castes, food prepared by them could not be eaten. On October 3, 2022, Ms. Geeta and Beena Beldar visited the Birsanagar police station in Jamshedpur – the designated police station under the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act in East Singhbhum district – with a written complaint demanding registration of an FIR against school authorities. But the Officer in Charge of Birsanagar police station Mr. Prabhat Kumar refused to register any FIR, so they reached out to HRDs Mr. Kartik Mukhi and Mr. Bikash Hembram for support. At around noon on October 3, Mr. Kartik Mukhi, Mr. Bikash Hembram and other HRDs gathered in front of the police station and protested peacefully against the police inaction, but they were abused by the Officer in Charge and pushed and shoved around by police personnel. When Mr. Mukhi and Mr. Hembram pressed with the Officer in Charge to register an FIR, he called them pimps, grabbed them by the collar and pushed them out of the police station. An FIR based on Ms. Geeta and Beena Beldar’s complaint was finally registered in the evening on October 3 after the intervention of the Superintendent of Police, Jamshedpur City. Mr. Kartik Mukhi and Mr. Bikash Hembram also submitted a written complaint to the police regarding their assault and abuse at Birsanagar police station in the evening on October 3, but no FIR was registered based on their complaint. Details of the Incident: On October 5, 2022, at around 2 AM, when Mr. Kartik Mukhi was riding alone on his motorbike through the Sakchi roundabout in Jamshedpur, he was intercepted by 10- 12 uniformed policemen. Police personnel took away his bike key, shoved him into the police jeep, and took him to Sakchi Police Station, punching him repeatedly along the way. He was not told why he was detained or if he was arrested. Instead, his mobile was confiscated after reaching the police station, and he was repeatedly kicked and punched on his chest, back, legs and buttocks by police personnel throughout the night. Sub Inspector Deepak Maurya and the munshi of Sakchi Police station led the assault on the HRD. He was then detained at the police station. In the morning of October 5, 2022, at around 9 AM, Mr. Kartik’s mother Ms. Mamata Mukhi, his younger brothers Mr. Rohit and Krishna Mukhi and his sister Ms. Sunita Mukhi visited the Sakchi police station to inquire about Mr. Kartik. But the munshi and other police personnel refused to answer their queries, misbehaved with them, abused them and pushed them outside. While family members maintained vigil outside the Sakchi police station throughout the day, local HRDs including Birsa Sena founder Mr. Dinkar Kachhap joined them in demanding the release of Mr. Kartik Mukhi. At around 11 AM, they heard Mr. Kartik Mukhi cry out in pain from inside the police station premises.

Mr. Rohit and Krishna Mukhi entered the police station unopposed, and saw Sub Inspector Mr. Deepak Maurya repeatedly hitting their elder brother Kartik, with his baton in a separate room in the police station premises. Mr. Maurya assaulted Mr. Krishna and Rohit Mukhi when they asked why Mr. Kartik was being assaulted, and abused them in casteist terms. Mr. Maurya repeatedly kicked Mr. Krishna Mukhi on his chest and stomach till an old surgery (colostomy) in his abdomen was injured and his intestines spilled out in the open. Mr. Krishna Mukhi was crying out in pain after the assault, but despite the seriousness of his injuries, police did not take him for treatment and detained him and Mr. Rohit Mukhi inside the police station for over six hours. Mr. Kartik Mukhi was also detained inside the police station premises. Police also turned down pleas for the treatment of Mr. Krishna Mukhi and release of other HRDs from activists and family members who had assembled in front of the police station. At around 8 PM, Mr. Prabhat Kumar, Senior Superintendent of Police, Jamshedpur reached Sakchi police station. An ambulance was arranged to take Mr. Krishna Mukhi for treatment to the MGM Hospital in Jamshedpur, but he was referred from there to the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences located 130 km away in Ranchi. As his condition was serious and his intestines were exposed, family members decided against taking him to Ranchi and admitted him at the Tata Main Hospital, where he underwent an 8-hour surgery. His final diagnosis as per hospital records was ‘Traumatic Colostomy Prolapse’, and the reasons for his admission stated, ‘Admitted with C/O Pain Abdomen due to A/H/O assault at 11 AM on 5/10/22 at Sakchi’. Meanwhile, the SSP assured the crowd outside Sakchi Police Station that Mr. Kartik Mukhi would be released the following day, and would not be assaulted in the interim, and asked them to go home. But soon after the crowd dispersed, the SSP asked police personnel to pin Mr. Kartik Mukhi down to the floor, and kicked him on his chest several times with his boots. He abused the HRD in casteist terms, saying ‘Ghasi hai, bada neta banta hai (You are a Scheduled Caste and strut around like a leader!)’. From 2 AM, October 5, 2022, - 10 PM October 6, 2022, Mr. Kartik Mukhi was kept under illegal detention at the Sakchi Police Station He was produced before the magistrate at around 10 PM on October 6, more than 40 hours after his detention, in violation of Section 57 of Cr.P.C.

An FIR (no. 212/2022) was shown as registered at 10:15 am on October 5, 2022. Under sections 143, 147, 149, 353, 186, 447, 506, 504 of the Indian Penal Code, by Assistant Sub Inspector Ms. Kamala Oraon. Mr. Mukh is currently lodged in Sakchi jail. Mr. Rohit Mukhi and Mr. Krishna Mukhi and local activist Mr. Dinkar Kachhap were also named as accused in the F.I.R. Other HRDs named as accused in the FIR fear they may be arrested and tortured too. The complainant, Assistant Sub Inspector Ms. Kamala Oraon, has claimed that police detained and questioned Mr. Kartik Mukhi and his relatives for violating traffic rules late in the night on October 4, but released them after obtaining an undertaking. But that claim is contested by Mr. Mukhi’s family. The complainant also claimed that Mr. Kartik Mukhi attacked the Sakchi police station at around 9 PM on October 5 along with Mr. Rohit Mukhi, Mr. Krishna Mukhi, Mr. Dinkar Kachhap and 15-20 others, and they were nabbed from the spot. But Mr. Kachhap and others were heading towards their homes at this time after the SPP assured them regarding Mr. Kartik Mukhi’s safety and Mr. Krishna Mukhi was sent for treatment.

The wife of Vietnamese prisoner of conscience Bui Van Thuan has filed a petition for help after a series of strangers visited her house, sometimes swearing and asking how she paid for her children’s meals.

Trinh Thi Nhung said the most recent incident was on Oct. 20, when a tall, young man wearing a mask drove to her house and asked to buy honey but ended up insulting her.

When the house’s owner asked the man to leave, he turned to Nhung and asked her how she paid for her children’s upbringing. He also claimed someone was giving her money while her husband was in prison. Finally, he told her to move out of her mother’s house and go to her husband’s hometown to live.

After the incident, Nhung filed a petition with authorities in Mai Lam ward, Nghi Son town, Thanh Hoa province but they said there was no basis to handle it.

Nhung was previously visited by a tattooed young man. She said he tried to break into the house when only she and her son were inside. She noticed that in the recent visit the car had the same registration plate as the one driven by the tattooed man.

Nhung filed two complaints to Mai Lam ward police to report being harassed, providing a video clip showing the second man with a clear shot of the car license plate.

“On Monday, Oct. 24, I filed a complaint with the commune police. The commune police chief saw the clip and said that because the man had not broken into my house, there was no basis to track him down,” she said.

The person in charge of local security in Mai Lam ward told Nhung if the man came back, she could defend herself or call the ward police.

RFA has not been able to contact Mai Lam ward police to verify the information that Nhung provided.

Nhung's husband, Bui Van Thuan, 41, was arrested at the end of August last year on charges of "making, storing, distributing or propagating information, documents and items aimed at opposing the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.”

The former chemistry teacher is known for his series of Facebook posts, in which he wrote about the internal fighting of state officials in many Vietnam localities, which he dubbed the "dog fighting ring."

State media cited documents from the Investigative Security Agency that said Bui Van Thuan was "frequently using social networks to post articles and images with content that infringes on national security."

More than 12 months of interrogation ended last month. Thanh Hoa province police announced the end of the investigation into Thuan, and transferred the file to the Procuracy to propose prosecution.

Nhung said the family had signed a contract with two lawyers Dang Dinh Manh and Nguyen Ha Luan to defend her husband in the upcoming trial.

Lawyer Dang Dinh Manh met Thuan in prison last week to prepare his defense, Nhung said.

During the time Thuan was detained, Thanh Hoa police repeatedly threatened to arrest his wife because she often announced details of her husband's case on social networks, and wrote a letter of complaint to demand her husband’s rights were observed.

In March and July of this year, Nhung was summoned for interrogation by the Security Investigation Agency of Thanh Hoa province's police, asking her to limit the number of articles about her husband that she posted on Facebook.

The police asked Nhung to confirm her husband's Facebook account and also her social network accounts. When she refused, the police threatened to arrest her for "failing to cooperate with the investigation agency."

Authorities in the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang have detained a dissident who openly supported the Oct. 13 "Bridge Man" anti-Xi Jinping banner protest ahead of the 20th party congress in Beijing, the rights website Weiquanwang reported.

"Dissident Wu Jingsheng has been arrested by Qujiang district police in his hometown of Quzhou city," the website said.

"Wu Jingsheng was called in to drink tea after he retweeted information about the heroic Sitong Bridge protest by Peng Lifa in WeChat groups and on Facebook," the website said, using a phrase referring to a summons from China's feared state security police.

"He was sent home in the early hours of the next day and posted the following on Facebook," it said. "He hasn't updated his Facebook page since."

In the Oct. 16 post, Wu repeated the slogans painted on two banners by Peng Lifa, who was detained after hanging them from the Sitong traffic flyover in Beijing's Haidian district, days before the ruling Chinese Communist Party convened its five-yearly party congress.

"I am posting Peng Lifa's slogans here," Wu wrote, in a reference to the banners, which read "Remove the traitor-dictator Xi Jinping!"

“Freedom, not lockdowns”

Video and photos of Peng's banners were quickly posted to social media, only to be deleted. A post linked from the account called for strikes and class boycotts to remove Xi.

"Food, not PCR tests. Freedom, not lockdowns. Reforms, not the Cultural Revolution. Elections not leaders," read the second, adding: "Dignity, not lies. Citizens, not slaves."

Wu said he was interrogated over his forwarding of social media posts about the protests on WeChat by district police chief Yang Fan, while his phone was scanned by police for photos and contacts.

"They also wanted the name of the circumvention software I used [to access Facebook]," he wrote. Like other overseas social media platforms, Facebook is blocked by China's Great Firewall of internet censorship, and users in mainland China need circumvention tools to access it.

"They asked me why I reposted those things," Wu wrote. "I told them I greatly admired Peng Lifa's righteous deeds."

Wu, who has been described in unconfirmed social media posts as a former university lecturer who lost his job for his pro-democracy views and started driving a pedicab to make a living, said he had refused to hand over access to his Facebook account when Yang asked him, citing his right to privacy.

“At risk of torture”

Han Yutao, a Chinese student studying in the U.S. whose family was threatened by local police after he made a video supporting the "Bridge Man" protest, said Wu is likely now at risk of state-backed violence and trumped-up charges.

"Wu Jingsheng is now incommunicado, which means he could be at risk of torture and ill-treatment, as well as fabricated charges," Han told RFA.

He said he could understand why Wu took the risk of showing public interest in the "Bridge Man" incident.

"It's pretty unbearable for anyone with a conscience to live in today's China," Han told RFA, citing the mass incarceration of millions of Uyghurs and other ethnic groups in camps, the discovery of a woman held in chains in the eastern province of Jiangsu, and the privations suffered by many under Xi Jinping's zero-COVID policy.

"Peng Lifa's righteous deeds can be said to have encouraged a lot of people,” Han said. “His heroic act was true selflessness. He gave up the life he had to spark hope for a lot of Chinese people."

Han said the treatment meted out to Wu was unlikely to be more lenient than the authorities' treatment of Peng.

"He could be facing the same kind of [situation] as Peng Lifa," Han said. "Wu ... could be tortured and subjected to various kinds of psychological pressure, and his family won't escape political scrutiny."

Police in Beijing contacted Han's family after he expressed support online for Peng, contacting his brother and parents and putting pressure on them to persuade him not to be a "traitor," and to distance themselves from him.

"My family ... will now definitely never pass a political evaluation, and won't be able to hold any government job in China," Han said.

"This could also have a huge impact on their daily lives, if [COVID-19 tracking] codes get linked to social credit in future," he said, in a reference to the use of the Health Code COVID-19 app to hinder the movements of protesters and government critics when the authorities wish to silence them.

Xing Jian, a dissident from the central province of Henan now based in New Zealand, said Wu did nothing wrong by reposting the "Bridge Man" content.

"Wu Jingsheng's support of the Sitong Bridge protester Peng Lifa in online communities is protected by law," Xing told RFA. "The arrest of Wu Jingsheng is all about currying favor now that Xi Jinping was given a new term in office by the 20th party congress."

"Mainland China has entered an era of imperial rule, and the power of the ruler trumps everything else," he said.

A seventh NagaWorld worker was summoned to court on Thursday in relation to a complaint filed by the casino corporation alleging a raft of crimes.

At least six NagaWorld workers have previously been summoned by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court for questioning after NagaWorld filed a complaint with the charges of breaking and entering, intentional damage and even illegal confinement. There has been no clarity on what the workers actually did.

Mam Sovathin, another laid-off NagaWorld worker, said she went to court on Thursday after receiving a summons dated October 22. She submitted a letter asking for a delay because she did not have a lawyer.

“The court didn’t say anything, just took my document for a delay,” she said.

Sovathin said another worker had been called by the police and informed to appear in court for questioning but had not received an official summons letter. She did not recollect the worker’s name.

NagaCorp laid off more than 1,300 workers last year, igniting protests which have often turned violent when district security guards and police have attempted to block them. After months of being stopped at barricades on Sothearos Blvd. — after which they would be bused around the city and dropped off on the outskirts — they have been allowed to resume their protest outside NagaWorld 1.

Seven garment workers had contracts terminated at Puma supplier Eastcrown Footwear Industries in Phnom Penh after they tried to form a union.

Factory management denied the workers’ removals were related to the union activity, but would not elaborate.

An Yousa said this week that she had been dismissed from Eastcrown after five months working there. She was among 10 workers who moved to start a union at the factory as she had experienced what she considered to be exploitation and violation of workers’ rights.

Workers were forced to work overtime, denied requests to take leave, and made to sit through meetings during break periods, Yousa said.

The factory tried to get the unionists to join the factory’s own company union instead, but when the workers declined, their contracts were terminated on October 11, she said.

“They dismissed us because we formed a union at the factory. The factory didn’t continue our contract. They said if we resigned from our union and joined their union they would continue our work contract.”

Duong Sokna, another of the removed unionists, said the factory’s company union never helped the workers.

“They discriminated against the union. I want a real union representing the workers, not a union representing the factory,” Sokna said, adding that the dismissed workers had lodged a complaint with the Labor Ministry.

The seven unionizing workers who lost their contracts are Yousa, Sokna, Eam Sambath, Duong Soknang, Matt Vy, Sarem Tharim and Suong Sarin. The three others who tried to union have not yet reached the end of their contract periods.

Eastcrown administrative director Hy Hong said the factory’s reason for laying off the workers was not because they had formed a union, but would not elaborate.

Labor Ministry spokesman Heng Sour said the ministry was looking into the issue.

Ry Sethyneth, president of the Independent Trade Union Confederation, said the case showed discrimination against union workers and violated labor rights.

“If the Ministry of Labor uses the mechanism of the Labor Inspectorate effectively and promotes the implementation of the law, then union discrimination will no longer exist,” Sethyneth said. He considered union-busting to be a human rights abuse, he said.

Eastcrown Footwear Industries has about 3,000 workers, according to the dismissed unionists, and U.S. bills of lading show it has supplied shipments to Puma North America.

Earlier this year, the Coalition of Cambodia Apparel Workers Democratic Union said about 1,400 union leaders and active members have been laid off in cases of alleged union-busting in the last five years.

Workers fired from a Puma supplier after trying to start a union say two more colleagues have had contracts terminated since the weekend, and don’t know about a visit or settlement as claimed by the German athletics brand.

After seven garment workers spoke of alleged union-busting at Phnom Penh’s Eastcrown Footwear Industries, Puma’s corporate communications head Robert-Jan Bartunek said on Friday that an agreement had already been reached and overtime violations were not found as alleged.

“When PUMA learned about this case, we immediately engaged with the factory management. As of today, the factory management and the concerned workers reached an agreement on a financial settlement,” Bartunek said. “We have had no indication of unvoluntary overtime work through our social audit, grievance mechanism and our factory visit last week.”

However, two of the previously terminated unionists said on Monday that they didn’t know of any Puma visit nor a financial settlement.

Duong Sokna, 20, treasurer for the newly-created union, said she knew of an upcoming meeting at the Labor Ministry on Tuesday. But she didn’t know of any visit by Puma representatives or the brand’s mediation in the dispute.

Furthermore, two more workers who had tried to help form the union, Duong Tola and Horn Srey Neang, had received termination letters: Srey Neang on Saturday and Tola on Monday. They would lose their jobs at the end of their contracts, Sokna said.

“The factory strongly discriminated against the union and they still discriminate, and, frankly, in relation to those who were involved with voting for the independent union, all will be fired.”

Another unionist, Suong Sarin, 24, said only one of the 10 founding union members still had a job. Initially, 16 had joined to form the union, but six had withdrawn in the face of threats, Sarin said.

All the unionists would go to the Labor Ministry on Tuesday — some to attend a mediated meeting, and others to file a complaint.

Sarin said he also didn’t know about any Puma visit or settlement reached.

“I will still continue to do the union work because there is a lot of pressure on the workers inside the factory,” Sarin said, including being pushed to work overtime, and meetings held before work or during breaks. “No matter what the result will be, I will try my best to help our Cambodian workers.”

Eastcrown administrative director Hy Hong said last week that the factory’s reason for laying off the workers was not because they had formed a union, but would not elaborate.

Bartunek, the Puma communications official, said on Friday that the brand had started working with Eastcrown in March this year.

Puma has “multiple channels for factory workers to raise any concern directly with our sustainability team,” he said, and the company had “zero tolerance for freedom of association breaches, and it may lead to the termination of the business relationship with the factory.”

“PUMA commits to the right to freedom of association, to organize or join unions and to collective bargaining,” Bartunek said.

More than 20 people in Kyrgyzstan were detained on Sunday, October 23, and placed under arrest for 48 hours, after publicly disagreeing with the impending transfer of an important dam to Uzbekistan as part of a border demarcation deal with the neighboring country. Those detained included activists, human rights defenders, bloggers, and politicians.

The next day, courts ordered several of the detainees be held in pre-trial detention for two months while the investigation continues. All of the detainees were charged with preparation for and organization of mass unrest. The police also initiated an investigation over “evidence obtained from a special investigation,” which transpired to be a series of edited and excerpted wiretapped conversations between some of the detainees. The wiretapped montage was leaked to social media and had apparently been constructed to seem like some detainees called for a government overthrow because of the contentious border agreement.

According to a statement by Kyrgyzstan’s Ombudsman, before their arrests, authorities conducted warrantless searches of the activists’ houses and seized personal property. In most cases, including with human rights defender Rita Karasartova, police forced entry into their homes and attempted to prevent video documentation of the arrests. The activists were transferred to detention centers and some were not allowed access to their lawyers.

Twelve of the 23 detainees are members of a newly created group created to protect the Kempir-Abad water reservoir in south-west Kyrgyzstan. The group opposes Kyrgyzstan's plan, which includes transferring territory and the dam itself to Uzbekistan. The Kyrgyz government maintains the agreement benefits Kyrgyzstan and both countries will manage the reservoir and have access to its water.

The reservoir plan was signed on September 26 as part of an agreement that seeks to determine official borders for the 15 per cent of non-demarcated territory between Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. Protests in Uzgen, where the reservoir is located, began after residents worried about losing water access.

The agreement’s full text is still secret.

Protests demanding authorities release the activists and share information about the agreement took place on October 24 in Bishkek and Osh, Kyrgyzstan. Ahead of the protests Internet connectivity was severely limited, especially in Bishkek. Internet providers stated an accident on the channels of the upstream provider caused the failures.

Kyrgyz authorities should release the detainees and ensure that their rights, including due process rights, are strictly observed in any investigations going forward.

In Kyrgyzstan, the authorities have increased efforts to control and censor mass media amid their recent crackdown on freedom of expression and civil society, Human Rights Watch said today.

On October 26, 2022, the Kyrgyz government ordered a two-month blockage of the websites of Azattyk Media, the Kyrgyz service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, because of a video covering the recent border conflict between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. The order was based on the Law on Protection from False Information, which drew significant criticism when adopted in August 2021. The authorities claim the video used hate speech and false information that Kyrgyzstan had attacked Tajikistan, which the radio service’s Tajikistan-based correspondent referred to during a video segment featuring correspondents in both Bishkek and Dushanbe, the countries’ capitals.

“It is standard journalistic practice to provide information from both sides of the conflict,” said Syinat Sultanalieva, Central Asia Researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The blockage of Azattyk Media is a blatant attempt to control and censor independent journalism in Kyrgyzstan in violation of the country’s international human rights obligations, particularly with respect to freedoms of expression and of the media.”

The blockage of Azattyk’s websites followed a protest outside Azattyk’s office on October 13, saying it should be closed down, and an initiative by a member of the Kyrgyz Parliament, Nadira Narmatova, for people to sign a petition calling for closure of Azattyk Media and two other media – Kloop, and Kaktus.Media. On October 14, an open letter signed by 70 public figures called for closing these organizations, contending that they were foreign-funded entities working against the national interests of the country. At least seven people included in the list of public figures publicly denied signing the letter.

The Kyrgyz Ministry of Culture and Information, which is responsible for enforcing the Protection from False Information Law, had previously blocked websites of the ResPublica newspaper for two months, starting in June, and attempted to block the website of the 24.kg information agency in August over an anonymous complaint of false information. The website was subsequently unblocked.

On September 28, the Kyrgyz president’s administration submitted draft amendments to the Law on Mass Media, which would include penalties for “abuse of freedom of speech” (Article 4) for public consideration. The last day to submit comments on the draft amendments is October 28, after which the amendments will be submitted to parliament for consideration.

On October 27, dozens of representatives of Kyrgyzstan’s media community published an open appeal to the Kyrgyz government to immediately cease all pressure on freedom of speech and freedom of media and to withdraw the Protection from False Information Law.

Analysis by several mediagroups found that actions that constitute “abuse of freedom of speech” in the proposed amendments would include sending “subliminal messaging” to viewers, mentioning any organization that was legally liquidated or whose activities were prohibited in Kyrgyzstan, and distributing any information prohibited by law.

The draft law also would increase registration requirements for foreign-based and funded mass media organizations, including identifying their main thematic interests to be covered and their sources of funding. It would also require other media, including internet publications, to register.

Media experts have pointed out that the text of the draft amendments is very similar to passages of the Russian Law on Mass Media and have expressed concern that the law would be used to eliminate media outlets critical of the government.

“Kyrgyzstan should stand up for, not undermine, independent media,” Sultanalieva said. “Authorities should immediately cease their attempts at controlling this fundamental human right by withdrawing the proposed amendments and uphold its commitment to respect all freedoms and human rights in the country.”

A funeral for 55-year-old Kyi Myint, who was killed in a parcel bomb explosion and shooting incident at Yangon’s Insein Prison last week, was held at Kyi Su cemetery on October 21.

Her son is student activist Lin Htet Naing, commonly known as James, and is incarcerated at Insein, Myanmar’s largest detention facility. She was at the prison to deliver a package to him when two explosions went off, followed by gunfire from junta personnel.

Family members reportedly asked that the Insein Prison authorities allow James to attend his mother’s funeral, but permission was denied.

According to the junta, among the eight casualties in the attack were three prison guards, a 10-year-old girl, and several women. An urban guerrilla group called the Special Task Agency (STA) of Burma claimed responsibility for the controversial attack in a statement, saying that the bombs intended to targeted the prison superintendent “in retaliation against prison officers who are Min Aung Hlaing’s followers, for constantly oppressing comrades of the revolution.”

Though several witnesses told Myanmar Now that most of the victims were killed when soldiers opened fire from a nearby watchtower in response to the blasts, the guerrilla group was heavily criticised for planning an attack near the prison entrance where many civilians frequently visit in order to send parcels to their detained relatives. The National Unity Government, along with many resistance groups, condemned the bombing.

Rights group Karapatan condemned the arrest of trade union activist Benjamin Cordero, the most recent in what they believed to be another round of attacks against trade union activists and workers’s rights defenders.

According to initial reports from Karapatan Metro Manila, Cordero was arrested at past 11:00pm on October 26, 2022 in his home in Quezon City. He was reportedly served with a warrant of arrest dated October 24 based on charges of frustrated homicide issued by Branch 77 of the San Mateo, Rizal Regional Trial Court. He is currently detained at Batasan Police Station 6, Quezon City. Recommended bail is at P72,000.

Cordero is the chairperson of the Labor Sector of the QC City Development Council, and member of Samahan ng Manggagawa sa Quezon City. He is also currently the campaign officer of the Urban Poor Coordinating Council - National Capital Region.

“We believe that Cordero’s case stems from another trumped-up charge maliciously filed in court by state agents who may have the possible motive to deter Cordero from conducting his activities as a trade union activist. Also, it should be noted that the charges of frustrated homicide against him were filed in San Mateo, Rizal, when he is obviously spending a large part of his work in Quezon City. Many similar trumped up charges against activists were filed elsewhere, far away from their work or residence,” said Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay.

Karapatan Metro Manila also reported that Cordero did not receive a copy of the subpoena and complaint affidavit on the case, which is why they were unable to reply on the charges against Cordero. He was unable to participate in the preliminary investigation because he was not informed of any case against him. However, authorities were quick to serve the arrest warrant one day after it was issued, which means that authorities readily know Cordero’s address and information.

“We urge the court to look into the filing of charges against Cordero, and see whether his right to due process was violated. None of Cordero’s activities make him a criminal. Despite the previous dismissal of trumped up charges that were rendered baseless in the courts, state forces continue to file criminal charges against activists and rights defenders, taking away from them significant and productive time from their work and service to communities and in defense of people’s rights. We demand the release of Cordero, and the outright dismissal of charges against him,” Palabay said.

The arrest of Cordero comes after the arrest of KMU international officer Kara Lenina Taggaoa and Pasiklab Operators and Drivers Association-Piston president Larry Valbuena on October 10, on charges of direct assault. Both are out on bail.

Police in Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty, have detained opposition activists who planned to hold a rally to challenge next month's early presidential election.

Bibigul Imanghalieva, a member of the unregistered Algha, Qazaqstan (Kazakhstan, Forward) party, told RFE/RL by phone that she and several of her colleagues were detained for several hours early in the morning in different parts of the city before they could hold the demonstration, which was to fall on October 25, Republic Day, which commemorates Kazakhstan's declaration of state sovereignty in 1990.

According to Imanghalieva, leading activists, Aset Abishev, Aidar Syzdyqov, and Qanatkhan Amrenov, were among those detained. She added that she and other activists were released three hours later.

Imanghalieva says she and other members of the unregistered party had officially filed a request with the Almaty city administration last week asking for permission to hold a rally on October 25.

Other activists told RFE/RL that the chairwoman of an independent group of election observers, Arailym Nazarova, was also detained by police. Her mobile phone has been switched off since the morning of October 25.

In the capital, Astana, police cordoned off a square near Zhengis (Victory) Avenue where activists had planned to gather, not allowing anyone to enter the site. At least two activists were detained there.

Opposition activist Amangeldy Zhakhin said on Facebook on October 25 that police did not allow him to leave the village of Shortandy on October 25 as they tried to prevent his trip to Astana, the capital, where he planned to organize a rally to question the election, scheduled for November 20, at which incumbent President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev will face off against five relatively unknown candidates.

Activists in the cities of Aqsai, Pavlodar, and Oskemen also said they were blocked from travelling to Astana to take part in a rally.

Toqaev, who has tried to position himself as a reformer, called the early presidential election on September 1 while also proposing to change the presidential term to seven years from five years. Under the new system, future presidents will be barred from seeking more than one term.

Critics say Toqaev's initiatives have been mainly cosmetic and do not change the nature of the autocratic system in a country that has been plagued for years by rampant corruption and nepotism.

Toqaev's predecessor, Nursultan Nazarbaev, who had run the tightly controlled former Soviet republic with an iron fist for almost three decades, chose Toqaev as his successor when he stepped down in 2019.

Though he was no longer president, Nazarbaev retained sweeping powers as the head of the Security Council. He also enjoyed substantial powers by holding the title of “elbasy” or leader of the nation.

Many citizens, however, remained upset by the oppression felt during Nazarbaev's reign.

Those feelings came to a head in January when unprecedented anti-government nationwide protests started over a fuel price hike, and then exploded into countrywide deadly unrest over perceived corruption under the Nazarbaev regime and the cronyism that allowed his family and close friends to enrich themselves while ordinary citizens failed to share in the oil-rich Central Asian nation's wealth.

Toqaev subsequently stripped Nazarbaev of his Security Council role, taking it over himself. Since then, several of Nazarbaev’s relatives and allies have been pushed out of their positions or resigned. Some have been arrested on corruption charges.

In June, a Toqaev-initiated referendum removed Nazarbaev's name from the constitution and annulled his status as “elbasy.”

Vietnamese authorities must immediately and unconditionally release journalist Le Manh Ha and stop treating independent journalists as criminals for merely doing their jobs of reporting the news, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday.

On Tuesday, October 25, the People’s Court of Tuyen Quang province sentenced Ha after a two-day trial to eight years in prison to be followed by five years of house arrest for violating Article 117 of the penal code, an anti-state provision that bars “making, storing, distributing or spreading” news or information against the state, according to news reports.

The ruling said Ha produced 21 video clips and 13 articles that the court deemed as “propaganda against the socialist state of Vietnam” and posted them to his Voice of the People Le Ha TV (TDTV) YouTube-based news channel and personal Facebook page, according to the same reports.

Ha pleaded innocent to the charges at his trial and indicated he would appeal directly after the verdict was handed down, according to a U.S. Congress-funded Radio Free Asia report that quoted his defense lawyers.

“Vietnamese authorities must free journalist Le Manh Ha, who was wrongly convicted and harshly sentenced to eight years in prison for merely doing his job as a journalist,” said Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative. “Vietnam must stop equating independent journalism with criminal behavior and release all the journalists it wrongfully holds behind bars.”

Ha was arrested by plainclothes police in Tuyen Quang City on January 12, 2022, after which police raided his house and seized 20 books, two laptop computers, and a cellphone, according to multiple news reports.

Days before his arrest, Ha posted a commentary on Facebook about the “unequal fight” in eliminating official corruption, according to a U.S. Congress-funded Voice of America report.

The report said Ha’s TDTV channel often discusses legal matters related to state land grabs, a politically sensitive issue in the Communist Party-ruled nation, and he airs interviews with state land grab victims.

CPJ’s email to Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security did not immediately receive a response. Vietnam is one of the world’s worst jailers of journalists, with at least 23 members of the press behind bars for their work at the time of CPJ’s December 1, 2021 prison census.

Independent media outlet Konde.co was hit by a cyber-attack after publishing an article on sexual harassment within the Indonesian Ministry of Cooperatives and Small Medium Enterprises. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins its Indonesian affiliates, the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) Indonesia and SINDIKASI, in condemning the attack and urging authorities to conduct an immediate and thorough investigation.

On October 24, Konde published an article about incidents of sexual harassment committed by four public servants at the Ministry of Cooperatives and Small-Medium Enterprises (MSME). The article detailed the long history of sexual harassment by MSME staff, including one incident where a victim was forced to marry their abuser to prevent legal repercussions for his behaviour.

At 4:31 pm the same afternoon, Konde.co’s website was reported as down after the article spread rapidly across social media platforms. Later investigation by Konde.co staff revealed the website had suffered a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack, in which a party attempts to disrupt the normal functioning of an internet server by overloading it with traffic.

This is the second attack experienced by Konde.co after publishing an article on sexual violence. In May 2020, the Konde.co website was made inaccessible to the public and staff were locked from their official Twitter account.

In recent years, journalists and news outlets across Indonesia have been targeted by various digital attacks, including in 2020 against media outlets Tirto, Tempo, and Magdalene and in 2021, against alternative media outlet Project Multatuli. In late September 2022, 37 journalists and former staff from Narasiwere targeted in a social media hacking incident. Narasi’s website also suffered a DDoS attack.

Two journalists have been summoned by the National Police of Timor-Leste (PNTL) after publishing two articles on a minister’s request to dismiss Gastão Pereira, the Director of Internal Intelligence at the National Intelligence Service (NIS). The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins its affiliate, the Timor-Leste Press Union (TLPU), in condemning the summons and urging the authorities to cease targeting journalists and safeguard press freedom.

Editor-in-chief of the Jornal Independente, Jorginho dos Santos, and journalist, Domingos Gomes received letters from law enforcement summoning them to a police station for their article detailing recent political developments in Timor-Leste.

The piece detailed allegations that Timor-Leste’s Deputy Minister of Justice, José Edmundo Caetano, had sent a letter to senior government officials requesting the resignation of National Intelligence Service (NIS) Director of Internal Intelligence, Gastão Pereira, for his failure to comply with disclosure regulations.

According to reports, Pereira is accused of sharing confidential information about an upcoming investigation into the seizure of USD 130,000 and 40 million Indonesian Rupiahs (approx. USD 2,566) at a Timor-Leste airport.

The summoning of the Santos and Gomes by police is the latest in a series of media rights violations in Timor-Leste. In May, the IFJ documented defamation charges brought by a parliament minister against journalist Francisco Belo Simoes da Costa, following coverage of an allegation of ministerial corruption. Two months later, the chief editor of news portal Oekusipost.com, Raimundos Oki, was accused of breaching judicial secrecy for an investigative report arguing that several virginity tests were forcibly conducted on inmates at the Topu Honis Shelter in Kutet, Oeecusse.

Anti-death penalty and human rights lawyer, M Ravi is facing yet another round of police investigations over potential offences of Criminal Defamation and Contempt of Court by Facebook posts he made in April and May this year.

This was shared by freelance journalist and anti-death penalty activist Kirsten Han on her Facebook page. There she posted a screenshot of the police letter issued to Mr Ravi where it is stated that the police is conducting investigations upon him in regard to potential offences of Criminal Defamation under Section 499 of the Penal Code 1871 and Contempt of Court under Section 3(1)(a) of the Administration of Justice Act 2016, in relation to posts made in Mr Ravi’s Facebook page dated 20 April, 25 April and 5 May this year. Police orders journalist to turn up for interview without clarification

In a separate post, Ms Han shared that she has also been summoned by the Police for an interview over a Facebook post that she published on 10 May this year.

She is instructed to turn up at the Ang Mo Kio Division Headquarters on 21 October at 11am.

However, she shared that the Police has yet to confirm if she is being investigated for any offence. Ms Han was earlier called to an interview at Bedok Police Station on 24 June this year for allegedly participating in two ‘illegal assemblies’ outside Changi Prison earlier this year: once when she sat there with a few others the night before the execution of Abdul Kahar bin Othman, and another time when she and others took photos with the sign “END OPPRESSION, NOT LIFE”’ two nights before Nagaenthran was hanged.

Anti-death penalty and human rights lawyer, M Ravi is facing yet another round of police investigations over potential offences of Criminal Defamation and Contempt of Court by Facebook posts he made in April and May this year.

This was shared by freelance journalist and anti-death penalty activist Kirsten Han on her Facebook page. There she posted a screenshot of the police letter issued to Mr Ravi where it is stated that the police is conducting investigations upon him in regard to potential offences of Criminal Defamation under Section 499 of the Penal Code 1871 and Contempt of Court under Section 3(1)(a) of the Administration of Justice Act 2016, in relation to posts made in Mr Ravi’s Facebook page dated 20 April, 25 April and 5 May this year.

Mr Ravi has been ordered by the Police to turn up at the Police Cantonment Complex for an interview on 22 October at 9 am.

On top of this new investigation, Mr M Ravi is facing at least seven other investigations that have yet to be concluded and has had various disciplinary tribunals (DTs) held against him over the past couple of years.

The most recent DT to be convened against Mr M Ravi by the Singapore Law Society over the appeal by Mr Nagaenthran a/l Dharmalingam for leave to commence judicial review proceedings in respect of his impending execution and criminal motion for him to be assessed by an independent panel of psychiatrists and for a stay of execution of his sentence.

Nagaenthran who was assessed by a medical expert to have an IQ of 69, had subsequently lost his appeals and was killed by hanging at the Singapore Prisons on 10 November last year after spending 11 years on death row.

Arguing at a recent hearing on two contempt of court charges against him on 10 Oct, Mr Ravi told Justice Hoo Sheau Peng that both judges whom he has been accused of being in contempt of, have already filed disciplinary proceedings against him and he has been suspended from legal practice.

He told the court that since being confirmed to have suffered a relapse of his bipolar disorder in December 2021, the Attorney General had commenced five disciplinary proceedings against him.

Mr Ravi said that he had been stressed out throughout the months of his medical leave from December 2021 to May 2022, and he was not able to rest and recover from his illness. He said there were “enough ongoing proceedings against me.” Further, nothing that the allegation of bias was a fair comment.

Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) chief Manzoor Pashteen has been booked on charges of treason and terrorism by the Punjab police following his anti-military speech at the Asma Jahangir Conference on Sunday.

A first information report (FIR) registered on the complaint of citizen Naeeem Mirza on Monday stated that Pashteen hurled baseless allegations at the security agencies while his supporters chanted slogans against the institutions during the event held in Lahore at a private hotel.

Denouncing the FIR, the PTM chief said in a tweet, “The voices against oppression cannot be suppressed through FIRs, prisons or propaganda, but the only solution is to give justice”.

‘Ridiculous FIR’

Reacting to the FIR registered against Pashteen, Mohsin Dawar – a member of the National Assembly – wrote on his official Twitter handle: “The FIR filed against Manzoor Pashteen for his speech at the Asma Jahangir Conference is beyond shameful.”

Many others have said far more in recent protests than what Manzoor said in his speech, he added. “The ridiculous FIR should be withdrawn.”

'Unjustified sloganeering'

Earlier today, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the “unjustified sloganeering” against the Pakistan army at the Asma Jahangir Conference held in Lahore, saying it was unfortunate that such forums were being used to target the institutions.

The premier's condemnation has come after some people in the audience started shouting slogans against the army in the presence of key ministers, legal eagles and journalists on Sunday.

The prime minister said that the coalition government and his party are firmly committed to ensuring the freedom of expression of every citizen as per the Constitution but regretted that the conference was used for partisan political interests.

“It is unfortunate that such forums are being used to target state institutions, especially the armed forces, for partisan political interests,” PM Shehbaz said in a statement issued hours before he departed for Saudi Arabia to attend Saudi Future Investment Initiative Summit.

The premier said that the government itself provides the citizens with forums where they can freely express their differing views and opinions on matters of public importance but using a forum like Asma Jahangir Conference for unjustified sloganeering against the army was unfortunate when the “officers and men of armed forces are sacrificing their lives to save the country from internal and external threats”.

A total of 10 students from a number of universities in the city of Bandung were arrested by the police during a demonstration against the increase in the price of fuel oil (BBM) which led to chaos, Thursday (23/9/2022). This was stated by one of the participants in the action who is also the spokesman for the West Java Student Alliance to Sue (AMJM), Agung Andrian.

According to him, the 10 students were arrested when the police tried to push back hundreds of students after the riots broke out. It is known that the riot in front of the West Java DPRD Building, Jalan Diponegoro, Bandung City, broke out after hundreds of students were desperate to force their way into the West Java DPRD Building, which was heavily guarded by the police.

The police, who tried to prevent the student action, finally fired water from a water cannon and tear gas into the crowd of students and pushed the students back towards Jalan Trunojoyo to Jalan Ir H Djuanda and Gedung Sate. "There were 10 participants in the action who were also arrested by the police after the rejection of fuel prices at the West Java DPRD Building," said Agung. The police themselves have not provided an official statement regarding the arrests of students from demonstrations against the increase in fuel prices.

The field coordinator for the protest against the increase in fuel prices, Syaiful Bahri, regretted the police action to forcefully disperse students who protested against the increase in fuel subsidies. Because it is a repressive measure.

“This act is immoral and does not reflect humanist values. We were going to hold the microphone before we gave our speech. Suddenly, it was seized and our friends were immediately taken into custody. There is no mediation," said Syaiful Bahri when met by reporters at the Sampang Police Headquarters, Thursday (8/9/2022).

The demonstration against the increase in subsidized fuel prices by student activists was forcibly dispersed by the police for violating the rules regarding the expression of opinions in public according to Law Number 9 of 1998 Article 9 paragraph 2 letter a.

A demonstration on behalf of the Alliance of Student Executive Boards (BEM) throughout Pamekasan Regency was held at the Pertamina Camplong Depot, Sampang Regency, on Thursday afternoon.

The police arrested 11 students and one person as the action coordinator was named as a suspect, namely Syaiful Bahri (SB) and others as witnesses.

According to him, the purpose of the demonstration at the Pertamina Camplong Depot was only to have a discussion with the Pertamina Director. At the same time, he asked Pertamina Camplong about the results of the Pamekasan DPRD's inspection, which was previously promised to students.

"We are not making demands. So we want to ask Pertamina Camplong whether there has been an inspection and what evidence. Then we want to ask whether the BBM application is right on target or not because there has been no socialization," explained Syaiful Bahri, who is now a suspect.

He explained that prior to the demonstration a week ago, a notification letter was sent to Pertamina and it was also penetrated to the Sampang Police.

"Regarding the notification letter, it was a week ago that even yesterday a member of the police came to us," he said.

He asked the Sampang Police to evaluate professionalism which does not reflect humanist values.

The peak of the National Sports Day (Haornas) commemoration in Balikpapan was marked by demonstrations from the Islamic Student Association (HMI).

The demonstrators rejected the arrival of Vice President (Vice President) Ma'ruf Amin in the aftermath of protests against the increase in subsidized fuel prices. A number of demonstrators also received intimidation from unscrupulous members of mass organizations to the police on Friday (9/9/22) afternoon.

Head of HMI Balikpapan Branch, Rafsyan Hassan Ratuwara explained the chronology of intimidation and detention they experienced when they wanted to express their aspirations.

The incident began when dozens of HMI masses took action on foot from their gathering point in the Balikpapan KNPI Building to the action point at the Plaza Balikpapan intersection.

“We got there around 17.30 WITA. Just arrived, suddenly a number of people from mass organizations have been visited," said Rafsyan when confirmed, Friday (9/9/22) night.

The group of unscrupulous members of the mass organization, said Rafsyan, carried out intimidation and prohibited the demonstration participants from voicing their aspirations.

"There was a fight because we were not allowed to express our aspirations," he explained.

To avoid unwanted things, this mass of action then chose to move from the place and held a demonstration right at the intersection in front of Balikpapan Plaza.

“After shifting, we opened several banners and cardboard with our aspiration to reject the increase in fuel prices. We really want to convey this because it coincides with the Vice President who is in Balikpapan," he explained.

"The points we bring are the rejection of the increase in fuel prices and the refusal of the presence of the Vice President in Balikpapan, as well as asking to revoke the policy of increasing fuel prices," continued Rafsyan.

But when they were about to express their aspirations, suddenly the police came to the masses who were about to demonstrate. The police forbade them to hold demonstrations.

“I was just about to start giving speeches when suddenly the Head of the Ops Division of the Balikpapan Police was appointed. I don't remember what language he spoke to me, suddenly someone grabbed me from behind," he said.

Rafsyan admitted, twice he was cooped up by police with different ranks of non-commissioned officers. He and his colleagues were then taken and detained at the Balikpapan Police Headquarters.

"We were brought into the car, as if we were prisoners. I was pushed into the car and taken to the Balikpapan Police Station," said Rafsyan.

Rafsyan said that around 11 students were brought and detained to the Balikpapan Police.

"I was detained and told to wait, until finally the Head of Badko and a lawyer came to take care of us to be released," said Rafsyan.

Rafsyan said they were detained for two hours. At that time they were interrogated about their personal data until they were asked about the reason for holding the demonstration.

"About two hours of detention, they interrogated us about personal data. The intelligence unit asked the reason for our demonstration,” he explained.

Even though he and all his colleagues have now been released, Rafsyan feels that what he has experienced should not have happened. Because before holding the demonstration, they had reported the activity to the Balikpapan Police, the day before.

“Yesterday we coordinated to ask for permission to be delivered directly with some of our cadres. We even handed over the softfile so we don't know the reason for the disbandment and we brought it with us," he concluded.

The action of dozens of farmers from Padang Lawas (Palas), who was staying in front of the North Sumatra DPRD building was forcibly dispersed.

The forced dispersal was carried out by the Medan Satpol PP and police personnel, on the evening of Monday 19 September.

The farmer's tent, which is in front of the right side of the building, was forcibly opened by the Satpol PP.

This mass of peasants who were dominant in mak-mak rejected the officers' actions so that chaos could not be avoided.

The action of pushing each other between officers and farmers occurred so that it ended in chaos.

Farmers suddenly screamed and even cried hysterically, seeing the actions of the Satpol PP and police officers.

"Where else do we have to go," shouted the mothers.

"Is it wrong for us to demand our rights? We are fighting for our rights," said another.

However, the officers from the Satpol PP still opened the tents belonging to the farmers.

"I don't feel sorry for you to see this little boy," said a farmer, pointing to a sleeping child.

The action of the officers was stopped, because the farmers were still holding on to the tarpaulins they had laid out.

Demonstrations carried out by students at the South Sumatra Provincial DPRD were forcibly dispersed. It was observed in the field that mass demonstrations carried out burning tires at the Simpang Lima DPRD of South Sumatra Province.

Before burning tires, the police had fired tear gas or water cannon at the crowd to disperse the demonstrators.

Conditions began to heat up when the protesters were not allowed to enter by the police. Therefore, the students and KSBSI tried to break through, so the police were forced to fire water cannons, triggering a riot.

Dozens of Bhabinkamtibmas personnel were dispatched directly to the crowd to reduce tension. However, it was unavoidable that the mass action and the police officers would push and push. In fact, two units of officers' tactical vehicles sprayed water towards the crowd.

Student Arrested

A number of students were detained by officers for allegedly carrying out provocative actions by forcibly opening barbed wire that was installed as a barrier between demonstrators and the police.

The officers even fired tear gas several times at the protesters.

In addition, members of the South Sumatra Police Mobile Brigade and Ditsamapta South Sumatra Police continued to press forward to disperse the demonstrators.

Several times the demonstrators also retaliated against the police by throwing bottles of mineral water and boulders.

Until now, officers are still on guard at the Simpang Lima area of ​​the South Sumatra Provincial DPRD while urging demonstrators to disperse.

Acting Chairman of the DPP for Cyber ​​Journalist Observer (PJS), Mahmud Marhaba contacted victims of violence against journalists by public officials, Nurkholis Lamaau, Saturday afternoon. The editor-in-chief of the cyber meticulous.co.id media was contacted through the network of PJS administrators in North Maluku.

Saturday at around 15.10 WIB, Mahmud Marhaba spoke directly via telephone with the victim who was registered as a member of the press organization, the Maluku Alliance of Indonesian Journalists (AJI).

To Mahmud Marhaba, Nurkholis told the chronology of how he was abused, beaten by relatives of the Deputy Mayor of Tidore City.

Worse still, the victim's face was grabbed by the Deputy Mayor, while in the SPKT room of the Tidore City Police, right in front of the police officers when giving BAP information regarding the report.

"This is really outrageous what public officials have done," said Mahmud through a release that was distributed to all PJS administrators and members in 25 provinces.

The action which is seen as hampering the work of journalists began when Nurkholis on Tuesday night, August 30, 2022, made an opinion entitled 'Inhaling Coal Dust Get Rewards.'

The article quoted the Deputy Mayor of Tidore Islands, Muhammad Sinen, when giving a speech at the opening of the domino tournament in Rum Balibunga Village, North Tidore District, Sunday, August 28, 2022 night.

For Nurkholis, this statement contrasts with the coal dust pollution caused by the impact of the Tidore PLTU activities on the residents, to the commitment the government made during a meeting on Friday morning at the Tidore Mayor's Office: relocation or conversion of fuel from coal to environmentally friendly energy. Nurkholis is quite active in overseeing meetings between the community, the City Government and the PLTU.

For three hours Nurkholis finished writing the opinion and published it on the online media website meticulous.co.id. The writing that made the deputy mayor and his family angry, he shared it in several WhatsApp groups and his Facebook media account.

Wednesday, August 31, 2022 at around 00.33 WIT midnight, the younger brother of the Deputy Mayor of Tidore, Usman Sinen, came to his father-in-law's residence, in the Rum Balibunga village.

Usman asked to delete the writing on the grounds that Muhammad Sinen came at the opening of the domino tournament, not in his capacity as Deputy Mayor, but as a big family of Rum Balibunga residents.

In fact, in reality Muhammad Sinen was invited to the capacity as Deputy Mayor of Tidore Islands.

"The submission in the form of 'breathing coal dust can be rewarded' is just a joke or not serious," said Nurkholis quoting Usman's statement.

In order not to prolong this case, Nurkholis also deleted his opinion writing with the approval of his editor-in-chief.

Surprisingly, at around 09.00 WIT, Ari, the eldest son of one of Muhammad Sinen's brothers named Yunus Sinen, came knocking on his door.

Ari received Nurkholis's wife, Nurjanah Yahya and said that her husband was sleeping. However, Ari forced Nurjanah to wake her husband.

When meeting Ari, Nurkholis explained that the writing was an opinion and it was a form of criticism of an official's statement in a public space. Moreover, coal dust is not a trivial matter.

Nurklholis also received harsh intimidation from Ari, saying that he was just a newcomer to the area.

Before he could explain, Ari threw a blow to the back of Nurkholis's head twice, which was witnessed by his wife and sister-in-law. Ari also challenged Nurkholis to report his beating to the police.

"Want to report to the police? Please. I'll wait 5 minutes from now," said Nurkholis quoting Ari's statement at the time.

He rushed to the Tidore City Police Station, accompanied by his wife. At around 12.47 WIT, Muhammad Sinen, Ari, and their father, Yunus Sinen, arrived at the Resort Police.

In front of the police officers in the SPKT room, Muhammad Sinen immediately approached and grabbed Nurkholis's face. Nurkholis did not accept this treatment and said why the Deputy Mayor was treated like a thug. Luckily the police were quite responsive and tried to get rid of him.

Not quite there, Nurkholis also received death threats from the Deputy Mayor.

"Earlier, if we believed that the deputy mayor was the deputy mayor, we killed Pengana. We went to jail and nothing happened. (Earlier, if my sister was the deputy mayor, I killed you. I went to jail, it's okay," said Nurcholis to the Ketum DPP PJS, imitated the deputy mayor's words.

On that incident. Nurkholis also submitted 2 reports to the Tidore City Police. The first is a pure crime for beating Ari against himself and the other is a violation of Article 18 of Law No. 40 of 1999 concerning the Press which carries a penalty of 2 (two) years or a maximum fine of Rp. 500,000,000.00 (Five hundred million rupiah).

"Every person who unlawfully intentionally takes an action that results in obstructing or hindering the implementation of Article 4 paragraph (2) and paragraph (3) shall be sentenced to a maximum imprisonment of 2 (two) years or a maximum fine of Rp. 500,000,000.00 (Five hundred million rupiah)" Law number 40 of 1999 article 18 paragraph (1)."

Unfortunately, this case report has not received a positive response from the police. Nurkholis said that until today, he had not received a report on the progress of the investigation from the Tidore City Police.

Observing the case of cyber media journalists in Tidore, Chairman of the DPP PJS Cyber ​​Journalist Observer (PJS), Mahmud Marhaba requested that the police, in this case the Tidore City Police, carry out their investigative duties in a professional manner.

If there are indications of flirting or lack of seriousness in handling the criminalization of journalists by an unscrupulous deputy mayor of Ternate on Nurkholis, he asked the National Police Chief to act decisively on his members, including the North Maluku Police Chief and the Tidore City Police Chief.

"I request that the National Police Chief, who is very concerned with the criminalization of journalists in the territory of the Republic of Indonesia, to process the case of the alleged criminalization of journalists in Ternate."

"If there are indications of flirting in the case, I request that the National Police Chief take action against the officers involved in it, including the North Maluku Police Chief and the Ternate City Police Chief," Mahmud said while asking the North Maluku PJS DPD administrators as well as DPC administrators in Ternate City and Tidore City to supervise the course of the investigation of the case.

A total of six demonstrators were arrested by the police during a demonstration against the increase in the price of fuel oil (BBM) at the Horse Statue of Arjuna Wijaya, Monday (5/9/2022).

Central Jakarta Metro Police Chief Kombes Komarudin said the six demonstrators were arrested for stopping an official car belonging to a Banten Provincial Government (Pemprov) official while crossing Jalan Medan Merdeka Selatan. "So they were secured because they stopped vehicles that would pass in the Horse Statue area," said Komarudin when confirmed, Tuesday (6/9/2022). Not only stopping the car, said Komarudin, the six people also climbed into the front of the car with a red plate. "Riding vehicles, so they jump up and down or stand on the vehicle," he said.

According to Komarudin, the six participants in the action are still being questioned by the Jakarta Metro Police investigators. "We are still checking because there are reports," said Komarudin. "The six of them are still being questioned by investigators from the Polda Metro Jaya," he continued. It is known from the video that circulated on social media Instagram @wargajakpus, a group of participants in the action stopped a Toyota Camry Hybrid car that was passing. It is suspected that the car with the police number A-1-R is an official vehicle belonging to the Mayor of Cilegon. In the video, two people can be seen sitting and lying on the hood of the black car. The two people seemed to refuse when asked to get off the front of the car. In addition, the mass of action also pulled the plate of the car.

Two men who work as journalists in Batam, Riau Islands, allegedly experienced intimidation and persecution. The perpetrators were a number of security officers in an industrial area in Punggur Lake, Kabil.

The beating started when the two were investigating allegations of waste pollution from the area. Two journalists from the television media were injured. They claimed to have been hit by a motorbike.

The two of them reported this case to the Barelang Police, but there is no suspect yet. A victim, Darmawan Alamsyah alias Ateng said, on Sunday (11/9/2022), he and Irwanto were tracing a black liquid that was in the drainage in the Kabil area, Nongsa District.

The waste is thought to flow directly into the sea and pollute the environment. "The waste flows into the sea," said Ateng, Tuesday (13/9/2022).

After being investigated, it turned out that the waste came from a company in the vicinity of the location. While taking the documentation, they were suddenly approached by a man who claimed to be the security forces.

"He asked what he meant, 'we cover', then he called his five other friends," said Ateng. A number of security guards did not then intimidate and delete the photos and video recordings of the coverage. Both journalists refused.

"We were forced, then I was hit by a motorbike and I fell over, then they ganged up on us and took our cellphones," he said.

The two were then taken to the guard post. They were intimidated, held captive, and asked to delete the footage. Out of necessity, the two of them deleted the tape and finally released it.

"But before I delete the documentation, I have secured it and sent it to my colleagues, it will also be used as evidence later," said Ateng.

A number of students who took part in the demonstration to increase fuel prices admitted that they were mistreated by the police after a riot broke out at the Hulondalo Indah (HI) roundabout.

Right in front of the Jalan Nani Wartabone gas station, students began to scatter, due to the police chase.

According to TribunGorontalo.com monitoring, the mass of action joined in the Red and White Alliance was involved in a physical fight with the police.

The peak of chaos began to occur at around 17.00 WITA.

The demonstration became increasingly heated, when several protesters, including the driver of a commando car, began to be kidnapped by members of the police one by one, including the moderator of the action, Zakaria.

Zakaria admitted that he did not remember exactly how many police officers paraded him.

As he recalled, several police officers pinned his neck at the time of the incident. As a result, his eyes and neck hurt.

"Not only my neck hurts, especially when I drink water and spit on the asphalt red liquid comes out of my mouth," he admitted.

Zakaria was caught on camera moaning in pain near the fence while holding his chest.

He felt tightness in his chest, so several students around him took the initiative to take Zakaria to Multazam Hospital.

Fadel Imauan Hamzah Alim, a member of LMID, shared the same experience.

He was paraded by two people wearing plain clothes to a local shop.

The two men then beat him to a distance of 300 meters from the circle of mass action.

"When they brought me I was hit in the back, chest and it was difficult to breathe because they buttoned my neck."

"We were not taken to the police station, not far from the mass action circle, and that's where we gathered 10 people and were beaten by them."

For this incident, Gorontalo City Police Chief, AKBP Ardi Rahananto asked for data on students who were rushed to the hospital.

"I am the police chief responsible. Later in the data, where the wound was and what hospital he was rushed to," said Ardi, when he met the mass of action.

He also regretted the actions of the students. According to him, students must demonstrate according to the rules.

"If the rule is at 18.00 Wita, then the action can be continued tomorrow," said the Police Chief.

The Red and White Alliance (AMP), which is a combination of a number of student organizations in Gorontalo, again held a demonstration against President Joko Widodo's policy of raising the price of fuel oil (BBM), Friday (9/9) in the Saronde roundabout area, Gorontalo City. In addition to the fuel issue, students also urged that the articles in the RKUHP which were considered to threaten the freedom to express their aspirations be revoked.

The action, which had been going on since that afternoon, had to be stopped, because the police forced them to disperse. The dissolution was carried out because it had passed the specified time limit for delivering the oration, which was until 18.00 WITA. Before being required to disperse, some students first performed the evening prayer at the location of the action, after the oration prayers were resumed.

The barricades of the officers who had guarded the action from the start were then deployed and forced them to disperse. “Second warning, in the name of the law, I am the Head of the Gorontalo Police, ordering all the brothers and sisters to disperse. The time for expressing opinions is over," said Gorontalo City Police Chief, AKBP Ardi Rahananto through loudspeakers. From the students' side, they also said that they were orderly. The protesters only asked that before they disband, they could be met by Acting Governor Hamka Hendra Noer, and the Gorontalo Police Chief Inspector General Helmy Santika.

The student's voice was ignored, the loudspeaker from the direction of the police car, an order was heard to barricade the anti-riot security apparatus equipped with shields and batons. "Hu ha hu ha hu ha," a voice from the line of police rushed toward the crowd. “Dalmas forward,” ordered the loudspeaker, which kept the lined line of police officers moving. Behind the police line was a watercannon. Loudspeakers were also heard telling reporters who were on duty to cover the action, and the public was asked to stay away from the location.

"The public and journalists please leave the place," ordered the loudspeaker. The demonstrators were getting more and more pressured, and after they succeeded in repelling the demonstrators, the officers turned around.

Field General (Jenlap) AMP Arisaputra Batangale, regretted the action of the officers in disbanding the mass of action.

"I think the disbandment (yesterday, ed) could be communicated well without having to force and showing arrogance in the disbandment of the action period," said AMP Field General (Jenlap) Arisaputra Batangale. The students orderly dispersed and left the location of the action. Arisaputra also said that their action was a peaceful one. All they did was deliver speeches because they judged that President Joko Widodo's policies were not in favor of the people. "We, the red and white alliance, agreed on how in our action we can bring in the pj governor and the Gorontalo Regional Police Chief for how to later attend our action," he said. Until the action ended, neither the Governor nor the Kapolda met them. "We are not anarchists, our actions are peaceful, but on the ground the security is really tight," he said.

The action, which took place from the afternoon until sunset, was under strict security guard by the police. Hundreds of joint personnel from the Gorontalo Police and the Gorontalo City Police were deployed for security, anti-riot tactical vehicles were also deployed. The gas station area adjacent to the action site was even provided with razor wire to prevent the crowd from rushing in. As a result, the gas station also had to close during the demonstration. In the previous action, there were clashes with the police, because the students were forcing them to take control of the gas station. A number of students were reported injured, as well as members of the police who were injured and had to receive hospital treatment.

Gorontalo City Police Chief, AKBP Ardi Rahananto, told reporters at the location of the demonstration that the action was disbanded because it was no longer in accordance with the standard operating procedure (SOP) for the demonstration.

"We carry out according to the SOP, where at 18:00 it must be dispersed," said Gorontalo City Police Chief, AKBP Ardi Rahananto. He said that before the demonstration was disbanded, the police would take persuasive and preventive steps, by appealing to the masses to immediately disperse. The police chief was grateful, the appeal was obeyed, and the students dispersed. "Alhamdulillah, after we gave an appeal and warning, our younger students were able to disperse in an orderly manner," he said. "I thank you," added the Chief of Police.